Stay With Me
by jefronp
Summary: A ghost from his past turns Beck's world upside down as he raises his son as a single parent, and gets ready for his senior year of high school, along with his girlfriend, Jade. Will his life ever be the same again?
1. Chapter 1

**PROLOGUE **

She took a step back, shaking her head, "I'm not crazy…" She began with a whisper, "I'm not crazy! I'm not crazy! I'm not crazy!" She kept going on and on, her voice getting louder, as he grabbed both of her wrists, holding them in place as he head began to move back and forth with her words.

"You need help!" He said, "And I'm not saying that to be a jerk! But look at you! You need to get help!"

"No, I don't!" She shouted at him, and he leaned back. "I don't need help!"

From the corner of his eye, he saw the nearly two year old boy, just sitting on the bed, looking up at his parents. "Yeah, you do." He spoke quietly. "For him." His voice broke, "You need to get help, for your son… who needs you."

She looked like she was about to say something, but shook her head. "I…I can't." She whispered. "I.." She pulled her wrists away from him, and looked at her son. "I…" She then bent down in front of him, as the toddler's body began to shake. She grabbed his small hands, and looked up at him, his blue eyes staring back at her, as her own violet ones filled with tears. "I love you," She said to him. "Don't you forget that."

"Mama…" He whimpered, and she shook her head, biting her lip. She picked him up and held him tight against her, as she looked at her boyfriend.

"What about school?" She asked him, "Don't I need to finish it?"

"Worry about that later…" He said, a bit relieved she was agreeing so easily to this. "Your treatment is much, much more important."

She nodded, and leaned her son back a bit, kissing his forehead. "Mama's going to go get better, okay?" He just looked at her, "I know it's hard for you to understand right now, but… you will someday."

"And with that, she lay him down gently on the bed, and kissed his forehead once again. She looked at her boyfriend, and took a deep breath. "Okay." She finally said, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Just… get me the help I need."

He nodded, "My mother agreed to take you, if you needed it."

"Why can't you?"

"Because… someone has to stay here with Bentley." He spoke firmly. "I know you want me to go but—"

"What? Now you're not going to—" She stopped speaking and looked up at him, disbelief in her voice. "I can't believe you! You had it all set up!" She picked up one of his numerous little league baseball trophies and threw it against the wall, causing her son to jump, and look at her.

"YOU NEED THE HELP!" He almost screamed at her. "I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing this for that boy there who needs his mother more than anything in his life… don't you want that?"

"I… I don't know what I want." She said, stepping back. "Right now, I'm not even sure I want _you_."

"What? No… don't say that." He said as she grabbed her things. She ignored him and went to go kiss her son again.

"Bye, Bentley. I love you… I'll see you soon." She choked up, and looked directly at him. "I promise you." She whispered and gave him one last kiss on the top of his head, before grabbing her things and leaving the room.

And all he did was just sit on the bed with his son, who then began to cry. He picked him up and cradled him in his arms, laying his head on top of his. "I know…" He whispered, "I miss her too."

_Two years later_…

Beck closed his locker, groaning as the cold metal met with his head as he had leaned against it, sighing heavily, his head pounding.

"What's up brother?" Andre asked, as he walked up to him a smile on his face, until it disappeared and was instead replaced with a look of concern. "Are you alright?"

Beck shook his head, "No. Bentley was sick last night, so I had to stay up all night with him." Andre nodded, and looked at him apologetically.

"I'm sorry, man."

"It's fine. His fever is down, so he's getting better, which is a good sign." Beck said as he yawned. "Have you seen Jade?"

Andre shook his head, "Not since yesterday. She hasn't called?"

Beck shook his head. "Nope, but she wanted to know how Bentley was doing, so I'll go see if she's in Sikowitz's class. I'll meet up with you later, okay?"

"Alright man, sounds good." Andre smiled, and patted his shoulder before he began to walk in the direction of the stairs. He was looking at his phone, texting when he bumped into someone, sending his phone sliding across the floor.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" He heard that familiar high pitched voice and looked up in shock. She seemed to be in shock too, as her expression went from worry to one of complete surprise. "Oh my god, _Andre_?"

"_Cat_?" He said, his voice sounded like one of disbelief. "Oh wow, how are you?"

"I'm… fine? You look… wow, you look good." She smiled, and leaned forward to hug him. "How are you?"

"I'm doing alright myself. Just getting ready for applications… you know, all that good stuff."

"Yeah I know." She squealed that high pitched squeal of hers and clapped her hands. "I can't believe it's almost time to graduate! I'm getting closer and closer to my dream!"

"Yeah, about a year left." He said, and she nodded, as the bell rang, "Well…it was nice seeing you." She said, and hugged him again. "I gotta go, but we'll definitely catch up later."

He nodded again, and then numbly began walking to his first period with his crazy acting teacher, too in disbelief and out of it to realize he'd walked all the way there, and sat in his seat.

"Dude, you okay?" He looked up and saw Robbie was looking at him. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I guess in a way I have." He muttered and Robbie looked at him.

"What are you talking about?" He asked as the door slammed open, and Jade and Beck walked in, holding hands, and looking really happy… as they sat down and then kissed each other.

"Uh, why are you so happy?" Robbie asked them, as Andre couldn't seem to find his vocal chords.

"Look!" Jade said, wiggling her fingers in his face, and that's when Andre's eyes widened _even _more if that was possible. She had on a diamond ring… one that most people would get when they were to…

"You're engaged!" Andre blurted, jumping up. "You just proposed to her? At _school_?"

Beck nodded happily, "Yeah, man. Isn't it awesome? She agreed to marry me! And plus, it wasn't cheesy and stupid because it was… what was the word you used, Jade?"

"Not cheesy? I like different, and this… was definitely different."

"Yeah," Beck smiled, "Exactly. We'll have to tell you about it later."

"And to think you looked like you were gonna pass out just moments before." Andre mused, as Robbie then spoke.

"Yeah, you did too, like five seconds ago." Robbie told him as Andre took his seat again.

"Well, yeah, that's because—" He then remembered _why_ he was so bugged out earlier, deciding then that he should probably tell Beck. "Beck, man listen—" He didn't get to finish, as their teacher then decided right _then_ was the perfect moment to come into the classroom.

"HELLO, CHILDREN!" He yelled ,and then looked at his students, noticing how happy Beck and Jade were, "Well, well, is Hollywood Arts 'It' couple having a good morning?"

"Oh yeah." Jade said, not at all bothered by the fact that he was singling her out.. for once. "Look, Sikowitz! We're engaged!" She said as she wiggled her fingers in his face, just as she'd done to Robbie earlier.

"HOLY SHIT!" Sikowitz's eyes widened. "And to think Beck, I thought you were gonna marry your girlfriend from freshman year… I'm impressed."

"Yeah, well." Beck wrapped his arm around Jade and kissed the side of her head. "I got lucky with this one."

"Yeah, speaking of—" Andre was then cut off again, when the door opened, and everyone turned to see who was there.

Sikowtiz hadn't been paying attention and had been talking about the lesson for the day when he stopped abruptly, his eyes going wide.

Andre straightened himself up, and refused to look at Beck and Jade, Robbie's mouth was opened wide, and Beck looked like he was going to faint.

Jade on the other hand, had a look of confusion.

"Hey, Mr. Sikowtiz…" She said, shyly wiggling her finger sat him, her eyes didn't meet anyone's in the room. "What's up?"

"Wh—I can't believe—"

She stepped forward, and slowly walked to the acting teacher, handing him her schedule, "Uh, you need to uhm… sign this." She said, and he nodded, slowly going to sit on the steps.

"Beck, who's she?" Jade asked him, and he remembered that the two girls had never met before, since Jade had transferred there her sophomore year… when she was gone already.

"That's—" He got cut off when the door opened again, and Tori rushed in looking a bit panicked.

"I'm so sorry I'm late, my sister was running late, and you know how long she takes, like forever, and—" She stopped speaking too as her eyes landed on the girl who was standing in front of her, a shocked look on her face as well. "Oh my god." She said, taking a seat beside Andre looking as though she was going to faint. "What? Is this real?"

"Yeah, Tori." She smiled, somewhat shyly. "It's me."

"I can't believe… no fucking way."

"Tori, language!" Sikowtiz lamely scolded her, as he stood up, breaking out of his stupor. He handed the schedule back to the girl, and smiled, "Alright well, there you are, take a seat." She did was she was told, and ended up right next to last person she'd thought she'd sit next to.

"Oh my god." She said, and then looked at the other girl who was with him, glaring at her.

"Hi, Cat." Robbie said, and the redhead nodded.

"Hi, Robbie."

She then faced forward as Beck leaned over, "Cat? Why are you here? I heard you were never coming back." He whispered.

"Yeah, well, I had to." She said, her eyes narrowing. "And you know _why_."

"I do?"

She nodded, "You do."

And that's when he realized, now that she was back, his relationship with Jade was going to change… _forever_. She had just turned his perfect world upside down with her return, and it was only going to get worse.

Cat Valentine was a ghost from his past, and now she was back.

_Fuck_.

_You say goodbye in the pouring rain and I break down as you walk away…_

_Should I continue? _


	2. Chapter 2

_My life is better when you're here, you make everything… just seem okay. _

Ever since they were kids, and he was more or less old enough to understand it, Beck knew there was something off with his best friend. She was always going from one mood to the next, with literally a snap of someone's fingers. Her happiness was always over acted. Her sadness, played just right.

She always seemed happy around him and their friends, but he knew the truth, he knew she wasn't really always _that_ happy. When they were alone, she showed her true self, and it was only someone he could see, and nobody else.

Two years ago, she'd gone to get help for her problems, and they were _deep_. She wasn't a normal person, and he knew that. So he and his mother did what her father and her bitch of a stepmother didn't do… they sent her away.

Her father was aware of what was going on, since he'd pay for it and everything. He just waved it off, and let her go, with no regard for what happened to her in the end, whether she was okay, or whether she'd just do it…what she always threatened to do when they got into their big fights.

At first he was afraid, but after she'd kept saying she'd do it, and never actually would (_except for that one time_), he knew she was just trying to get his attention. And she did a _damn well_ good job of it.

They had a _ton_ of history together, and deep down even though he knew it, he'd always say it wasn't true (_that she wasn't crazy_), but it was a lie (_because maybe she was_). She was his best friend, the best damn friend he'd ever had, even more so than Andre or Robbie. Her smile (_the rare times when she really did smile)_ would make him happy—and would make him smile.

And those times she was feeling sad… well he'd hold her in his arms, and just rock her back and forth until she calmed down.

Her father would bring up a past—a past she wasn't entirely happy with. And it would _kill _her every time he brought it up. Every time her damn, insensitive stepmother brought up with her as well. It was something she was trying to forget, trying to move on from, but they just _wouldn't allow her to_.

She'd come on the rainiest of days, knocking on his window, her hair dripping with the rain, and her tears running down her cheeks, to the point where he couldn't even tell the difference in between her tears and the drops of water. He'd let her come inside, and would wrap his arms around her, holding her until she quieted down, until she was able to speak in a normal sentence.

"Beck…" She'd tell him, "I'm sorry." And this is what she said each and every single time.

And each and every single time, he'd respond with, "Don't be sorry. This isn't your fault."

When they got older, he learned the _real_ reason for her mother's disappearance. She had died giving birth to Cat, or better know then as _Courtney Catarina Valentine_. Cat never got to know her mother, the woman that carried her for nine months, the woman who was supposed to help her through her life, the person who was supposed to show her what was right, and what was wrong. She just died, and Cat's father _always _blamed her for it.

Even though it wasn't her fault. He just believed she was someone who ruined his life and it was going to stay that way.

Her mother was fifteen years old, too young to have a child, so that caused a part in her death, as well as her excessive bleeding that happened after she was born. But what she didn't know that she found out later, was… her mother didn't really even _want her to begin with_.

And that crushed her even more.

Her father was just sixteen and _insanely _in love with her mother. To the point where he proposed marriage to her about a month before Cat had been born. But a lot of good that did since she just… passed away. Since he'd just… lost her. And it killed him.

Her father was a part of why she'd lost her mind that day two years ago. Why she was so… different, and strange, and child-like.

But he didn't even know the whole story himself; he just knew what he did from when he was with her, from their whole lives together. From Stratford, Canada, to Los Angeles, California.

And he hoped _now_ that he was going to get some answers, whether or not she wanted to speak with him, she _had to_. He was there for her for everything and she at least owed him that much, right?

Or was he just being an asshole and not taking her recovery seriously?

He didn't know, but what he did know was that he had to talk to her, before Jade, Tori, Andre, or Robbie did.

And he had to _now_.

As soon as the bell rang, she jumped up, grabbing her things and rushing out of the room, he watched for a second, before jumping up after her, ignoring Jade's protests to get back to him. He walked out of the classroom to see that she had literally just disappeared (_but wasn't she always able to do that?)_.

He looked around panicked, and then rushed through the crowded hallways to find her, knocking over a freshman and giving him a quick apology. He could hear Andre calling his name, but ignored him as he'd spotted the familiar red ponytail. He caught up to her noticing she was moving fast, and pulled her arm, spinning her around.

She looked at him, shocked her violet eyes getting bigger as she took in her past, as he was right in front of her. Her hand went to her mouth, her ring nearly blinding him as he looked at her, trying to remember the girl she once was… before she'd completely gone crazy and needed to get the help she needed.

"Beck." She whispered, tears coming to her eyes. "I…I…" She didn't get to finish as her voice was shaking so much. He just shook his head, and wrapped his arms around her holding her close to him as he rubbed her back, and held her tight.

_Just like old times_.

When he felt she'd calmed down enough, he pulled away, and looked at her. She looked back at him, and in an instant her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him to her and giving him _their first hug in two years_.

"Cat…" He whispered, tears coming as well, "I can't… believe you're back. And you're… you look much better than you did…" He trailed off, not wanting to bring back that awful day.

"Yeah." She weakly smiled at him and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "My doctors say I'm recovering very well, I mean… I haven't…" She trailed off, looking down, biting her lip and shaking her head. Then she looked back up at him, and took a deep breath, and he could see in her eyes, that she was afraid to ask this next question. But she did anyway, and he was relieved to find that she still remembered… about _him_, her son. "How's Bentley doing?"

"He's doing well." He smiled at her, as he thought of his son. "I mean, he was sick last night, but he's much better now… you know he's going to be four next month?" She nodded her head.

"I didn't forget. I thought of him everyday, and wanted to send him things, but I couldn't bring myself to…" She looked like she was going to cry, and he grabbed her hand, gently rubbing it to comfort her (_just like old times_). "And I feel like absolute shit for that."

"Don't worry about it." He said, "I told him so many stories about you while you were away, of our lives together… everything, that he has some sense of who you are."

She nodded, and said nothing for a moment, she just looked away, and then looked back at him, nervously. "Do you think… maybe that I could uhm, see him?"

"Sure, why not?" He said, shrugging nonchalantly.

"Why are you so easily willing to let me see him?" She asked, "I don't get it."

"Well…" He said, "He's your son too isn't he?"

He had a damn good point, and the fact that he was still rubbing her hand, made her instantly feel comfort. She smiled up at him, still weakly, but one of those rare ones he'd used to see on her when they were younger.

They said nothing for a few moments, just stared at each other, until a voice broke away their thoughts.

"What the _hell_ is going on here?" Beck instantly let go of her hand, as his now, fiancé walked up to the two of them, looking a bit pissed off. "Why were you holding her hand, Beck?"

"I wasn't holding her hand." He lamely argued back. "I was…"

"It was a way he comforted me when we were younger… I wouldn't really worry about that too much…I'm sorry, I don't know your name." Cat said, stepping closer to her, she had a smile on her face, and held her hand out towards her. "Actually, I don't think we've ever been introduced. "I'm Courtney… or just Cat works fine."

"I'm Jade…" The other girl took her hand, slowly shaking it. "Beck's fiancé."

An emotion passed through Cat's eyes that Beck couldn't quite see, but she just nodded, causing it to go away as soon as it came. "That's very great, congrats you two." She gave Jade one last smile, and then turned to Beck. "Well, I'd better go, it was nice…" She trailed off, and he knew immediately what she meant.

"Think about what I said okay?" Beck said, as he put his arm around Jade.

"I will." She said, "Uhm, well, see you both around." And with that she was gone. Jade turned to Beck, and looked up at him.

"You both have a history?"

Beck seemed to get lost in thought for a moment, before he just shook his head, ridding himself of his thoughts almost immediately. "Yeah, but… just don't worry about it okay?" She nodded, somewhat warily. "Okay, good. Uhm, we should, uh… get to class." He said, and Jade nodded, leaning up to kiss him lightly on the lips.

"Let's go." She whispered, and Beck only nodded back.

**SUMMER BEFORE SEVENTH GRADE **

"If you could live in any time period, what would it be?" Beck turned over, and looked at his girlfriend of a little over a year. She had this look of curiosity on her face, and was blinking her big eyes at him.

"Uhm, the eighties…? Or the seventies would be pretty cool." He looked at her, "What about you?"

"The fifties… just something about the way they dressed, their music, malt shops, where they hung out… all of that just makes me wish I was born then, and not now."

"I bet you ten bucks you couldn't survive without your cell phone or your ipod." He said since she was so attached to those things.

"Yeah, I could." She said, honestly, "I mean, I'm sure then getting pregnant at a young age wasn't such a bad thing… and then maybe… my father wouldn't…" She trailed off, and shook her head. "Never mind. I just want to live then, the style is so vintage and retro and I love it."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." Beck said, putting his hands behind his head and staring up at the plain white ceiling above him. "The seventies would be cool too." She nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, that's the Joan Jett time… she's such a badass."

Beck laughed at her.

"What? I like her, big deal." She shrugged, "it's not like I'm going to go lesbian on you." She stuck her tongue out at him, until a more serious look passed over her face. "Unless… you'd actually like that?"

"Well, as much as I would…" He leaned over and kissed her softly. "I don't want to you to go anywhere."

She kissed him again, and smiled, giggling when he leaned over to give yet, _another _kiss. "I won't go anywhere, I promise." They kissed again, and Cat broke it, looking at him a serious expression on her face. "What about you?"

"I won't go anywhere. I know I'm thirteen and you're twelve, but I don't want to be with anyone else. You're my best friend, if I did then you wouldn't be here anymore and I don't want that to happen."

She nodded, "I won't go anywhere!" She promised. "Unless I get abducted by aliens…"

"I doubt that's gonna happen." Beck told her, rolling his eyes.

She shrugged, "you never know!"

"Just trust me, aliens won't _ever _abduct you, and I'll be here…" He took her hand and looked at her, waiting for her to look him too. "Always and forever." He whispered.

She put her hand on his cheek, and gave him a small smile, "Always and forever." She whispered back before connecting their lips once again.

_Alright, everything is alright… since you came along. _

_Like it? Hate it? I know it's like the second chapter, but I had written this out before and I decided not to go with it, because it seemed a bit too rushed. But yeah, that's the new version of it. This story is going to be pretty dark, and there's going to be lots of flashbacks from their past so that you get an idea of what happened to cause Cat to completely lose herself. _

_Well, read and review! Hope you like it! And happy belated Halloween! Mwuahaha._


	3. Chapter 3

Beck sighed as he walked into his house, he ran his fingers through his hair, and went upstairs. He knocked on his son's door, and smiled when the little boy responded with "Come in!" He yelled, and Beck opened it to see he was lying on his stomach coloring and drawing a picture.

"What's up kiddo?" He asked, bending down to his level and reaching over to ruffle his hair. "Are are you feeling?"

"I'm okay… but look! I'm drawing! Look! I made a tiger, but I colored him purple… that doesn't make any sense!"

Beck laughed, he was so like his mother it was in some ways cute, and in other ways, not so much. "Well, that's a very good picture." He told him, "I'll hang it up on this wall with all your others okay?"

"You can't!" He cried. "I'm not finished!"

"Okay, well, fix it." He told him, "and finish it. I'll hang it up later." The boy nodded, and then leaned his head on his father's shoulder. It was silent for a few moments, and Bentley decided then to go back to lying on his stomach, to continue coloring. "Hey, I have something to tell you."

"What?" He looked up at his father, who just grinned.

"Jade and I are engaged!" He said, spreading his arms wide, and smiling bigger than he already was a second later.

Bentley on the other hand just wrinkled his nose and looked at him confused. "What's engaged?"

"It means were gonna get married…" Beck said, "And she's gonna be your stepmother."

"Oh! Oh…" The little boy said, and just shrugged. He didn't say anything else, but what did Beck expect from a nearly four year old boy. He did seem a bit upset though.

"Does it make you sad?"

He still didn't answer, and Beck sighed, leaning against the wall and watching him for a moment. "Do you miss your mama?" He asked, catching his attention once again. Bentley stopped coloring and looked up at him nodding his head.

"I miss her, and I wanna see her soon. She's my mommy!" He said, now getting a bit worked up which he always did whenever Beck or anyone else brought her up. She was a touchy subject for Bentley and everyone was aware of that. Unless he asked Beck or his mother to tell him a story about her, then that was a different story.

Beck sighed again, leaning his head on his hand, "Okay…" He said. "You're gonna see you soon, okay? I promise."

"Really?"

Beck nodded again, "Yeah, I promise."

"Okay." Bentley whispered, and then just went back to his task of coloring his amazing purple tiger.

Beck sighed, putting his head in his hands. He knew Cat had asked to see him, but how was he going to do that so soon? Especially since Cat was still in the middle of her recovery… he just didn't want to restart something if she was working so hard to make it go away.

He just leaned his head against the wall and looked up, hoping everything ended up working out okay.

**HALLOWEEN – NOAH'S HOUSE PARTY (SEVENTH GRADE)**

"Ugh! I hate zombies!" Cat said, as she moved through their friend Noah's huge house, letting out a groan when her punch spilled over on to the floor. "Oh, just great. Noah's mother is going to kill me." She muttered.

"Babe, relax." Beck said, and grabbed her hand. "It's fine. I'm sure you're not the only who's messed up the carpet."

She nodded and just put her punch down at a random table, going to put her arms around Beck's neck and lean in to kiss him when someone bumped into her, causing them to stumble backwards. Luckily the table behind them was able to stop him from completely causing them both to eat shit, so once they straightened themselves up more, Cat took the opportunity to glare at the person who caused their embarrassment.

The girl was just laughing at them, and pointing shaking her head. "Oh, wow! Oh my god, I can't believe you both just almost ate shit!" She said, and smirked. "I'm actually kinda happy about that actually. I am _good_!"

"What the hell is your problem?" Cat snapped, getting in her face. "I didn't do anything to you!"

"Yes you… actually did." The girl, snobby and full of herself, Patrice said, sneering at the small, younger girl. "You took the guy I liked from me!"

Cat stepped back, "W-what?"

"Yeah, you heard me!" Patrice smirked, "You stole my guy from me!"

"What are you talking about? Beck's my best friend, and he and I have been dating for a year and two months now! If you really cared about him you would've liked him a long time ago!"

"And I did…" Patrice reminded her. "You just think that because you're so cool, you get to take away boys, well guess what that means? That you're a slut!"

Cat's eyes widened, and she looked around at everyone at the party who was now staring at her, she swallowed hard tears coming to her eyes.

"Did you hear me?" Patrice taunted, "I just called you a slut! And that's _all _you'll ever amount to anyways…" She got closer to her, her face an inch from hers, "A dirty little slut."

"S-shut up!" Cat yelled at her, "Just shut up! I'm not a slut!"

"Yes, yes you are…" Patrice smirked and looked at Beck, who was literally in too much shock to even acknowledge she had her hand in his hair, running her fingers through it. She smiled, "Beck… I know you want someone better…" She spoke in a flirty voice, which caused Cat's tears to spill over her eyelids. "Much better than this slutty basket case over here…" She then brought his head close to hers, and was about less than an inch away from his lips, when Cat lost it.

"Beck!" She shouted, "Do something! Why aren't you doing anything?"

Beck then blinked his eyes, and seemed to snap out of it instantly, he pushed Patrice away, just in time to see Cat run off.

"Why the hell did you do that?" He demanded. "You're such a bitch!"

"Why do you want to be with her anyway? Anyone could see she has problems, and all she is, is a drama queen. I, on the other hand am so much better. Don't you think you deserve someone better than someone who will just drag you down?"

"No." Beck spoke firmly. "I don't want anyone else. I just want her, and now you might've just ruined that for me!" He noticed her hand was on top of his and immediately removed his hand from hers. "Get lost Patrice, I'm not interested in you." And with that, he ran off in the direction of where his girlfriend had gone. He didn't find her, anywhere in the house, but when he went outside, defeated, he found her. Her shoes were off, and he saw her tan, red painted toenails, the sliver toe ring she always wore on one of her toes, was shining a bit. He looked up, and saw her make-up was ruined and she had tear streaks running down her cheeks.

It was something he _never _wanted to see again.

"You didn't stand up for me." She said, her voice was quiet, "Why didn't you stand up for me?" Her voice got louder as she stepped back, looking as though she was about to run away.

He just looked at her, unsure of what to say at first. "I did…but you were gone."

"Because you acted like a statue!" Cat shouted. "You acted like everything was just hunky dory! But it's not!"

"Who says hunky dory?" He asked her, randomly and she shook her head.

"I'm leaving." She said, and turned around, beginning to walk away, when Beck grabbed her arm stopping her.

"No. Stay. _Stay with me_." He looked directly in her eyes, "I don't want Patrice and I told her that, even called her a bitch."

"Did you really?" Her eyes widened a bit, but she still kept the same expression on her face.

He nodded, "Of course." He said, "_You're_ my girlfriend, not her. I don't want to be with her, she's just a bitch. You though, you're different, and I like that."

"Maybe I'm too different." She said, moving her arm from him, so hard she stumbled backwards a bit. "Maybe we both are."

"Cat! Did you not just hear what I just said?"

"No. I heard you… loud and clear." She said, "But, I really think that—" She didn't get to finish, since Beck had stepped close to her, and attached his lips to her, kissing her way more differently than she was used to.

"What was that for?" Cat demanded when they broke apart. Beck just rolled his eyes, and did the same thing again, pressing his lips against hers harder.

"Don't break up with me." He told her, looking into her eyes. "I don't want to lose you."

"Okay." Cat said, "I won't." And with that she kissed his lips softly.

"And don't let that bitch, Patrice get to you. She's gonna end up… well, I don't really know yet, but we'll see in a few years." She laughed, and he smiled, as a cold wind came, blowing through their costumes.

"You know, you look good as a vampire…" Cat said, smiling when he just laughed.

"Yeah, right because you go for the Dracula types."

She shrugged, "Yeah, maybe I'm more of a werewolf girl…"

He rolled his eyes, "I know I haven't told you this yet, but you're cute in your little fifties outfit. I love this poodle skirt."

"Really?" She said a smile on her face and he nodded.

"It's really cute. Suites you."

"Thanks. It took me a while, but I made it just right. And since you like it, I must have done something right."

"Yeah, but that's not the reason why I'm happy right now." Beck said, and she looked at him.

"Then what is?"

"You are."

**PRESENT TIME **

Cat walked slowly through the doors of Hollywood Arts, looking around nervously and playing with her hair. She didn't want to run into Jade—in fact, that was the _last _person she wanted to see.

Imagine her surprise when the world didn't listen to her and _she_ was the first person she saw.

"Hello, Courtney…" Jade's voice was cold as she approached her.

"Uhm, it's Cat, actually." She said, and Jade in turn rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Look, I want to know, what's going on with you and Beck?"

"Nothing's going on." Cat told her. "We had a past, that past is over with, and we've both very clearly moved on."

"Then why was he rubbing your hand yesterday, standing close to you, and talking to you in a hushed tone?"

"Really, Jade? Are you _that _insecure about your relationship?" Jade just glared at her, so she sighed and continued, with a roll of her eyes. "Look, Beck and I, we go way back. Okay? I've known him since practically birth. We grew up together, we.. we were best friends." She said, "And yeah, we dated, but it ended two years ago for reason I really don't want to share with you, so will you please just let it go?"

Jade was quiet for a second, the glare still on her face, as Cat spoke to her. "No one talks to me like that." She finally said, a lame excuse for how she'd been spoken to.

Cat just rolled her eyes, "Grow up, Jade." She started to walk away, when she smirked at her, "Nice shirt, by the way." And with that she was gone.

She couldn't believe that Beck's fiancé or whatever was being such a bitch to her. After all, she hadn't done anything… to sabotage their relationship, so why the hell was she so… worried about it?

(_Just like the same way you were yourself, Cat_).

She stopped suddenly and looked around, realizing that no one was behind her or next to her, or anywhere _near _her.

(_You remember, don't you? You were always jealous too)_.

Her heart pounding, she ran her fingers through her hair, and looked around nervously again. She'd thought it was over, she'd thought it would stop, that it goes away… but apparently even after two years of treatment, it _never really does_.

"Oh, no." She gasped, her hands going to her face. "I need to find Beck!" She whispered to herself, and then went in search of him, going past Tori and Jade who were talking, causing the both of them to look at her, worriedly. She then stopped in the middle of the hallway, and looked up; Beck was coming through the doors, and before she could even think about what she was doing, she ran to him, wrapping his arms around him and started to cry.

"Cat! Cat?" He said, as Cat then stepped away from him and looked around. She had gathered a crowd around them, and looked around, somewhat _paranoid_ to see that Tori was looking at her worriedly, some faces concerned, and Jade looking pissed off.

"Yeah, nothing's going on between you two, my ass." She snapped, and Cat's eyes widened as she stepped backwards.

"I knew this was a mistake." She whispered, and looked at Beck again. "I'm sorry, but… I have to go." And before Beck could even say a word, she was gone.

The crowd broke up after a few seconds, and Tori ran to Beck, ignoring Jade's protests, "What the hell just happened?" She asked him, "I thought she was better."

"She's only been back a day." Beck said, "We technically don't really know that." He thought about it for a moment, before he turned towards the doors. "I have to go find her."

"I'll go with you." Tori said, and he nodded. Jade on the other hand, just pulled him back.

"What's going on?" She asked, half angrily and half _actually worried and concerned_.

"I—I'll tell you later." He said, and with that, he let go of her and ran out of the doors, following Tori.

"There!" She said, pointing. "She's there! With… Robbie?" She turned to Beck, confused, but he just shook his head and ran after her. "Cat! Cat!" She yelled and soon realized she was on the ground her head covering her hands. This seemed so familiar to her, it made her chest ache. "Cat! What's wrong? What happened?"

Cat looked up at Tori, she didn't speak as her eyes then moved from Tori to Beck to Robbie then back to Beck. "I…don't know." She finally said, "I don't know what's wrong!"

"But you just had a panic attack, or something and then you ran off. Did you talk to anyone that might've made you like this?" Tori asked her, and Cat just shrugged.

"I talked to Jade."

"And what did she say?" Beck asked her.

"She's mad because she thinks there's something going on between us. But there's not, and I told her to grow up."

"Okay…" Beck said, "that still doesn't explain why you freaked out."

And just like that, she shook her head, and blinked, snapping out of whatever trance she was in. She stood up, and smiled, "I'm totally fine, don't you worry about it, Beck."

"Cat." Beck said, grabbing her shoulders and looking at her. "I thought you were getting better."

"I am." She said, to his surprise not saying what he thought she was going to say, which was, _was_.

"You still are?" He looked at her questioningly and she just looked at him annoyed.

"Yes! Now let me go!"

"Cat! Tell me what's going on!" He yelled at her, "You just flipped a shit, and I want to know what happened!"

"I can't tell you! Don't you think I want to? How do you think it feels to be back in a school where everyone witnessed your complete breakdown two years before? How do you think it feels to be back in a school where everyday you were there, you were judged? Huh? But look at you, you're fine! You're engaged to be married, you take really good care of _our _son, and you have friends who don't seem to judge you at all! You're the lucky one, Beck! At least you came out normal in the end. I didn't and I have to live with that _for the rest of my fucking life_!"

She stared at him for a moment as he stared back at her, Tori and Robbie exchanged a look. None of them said a word, until Beck finally spoke up.

"What did the doctors say was wrong with you?"

"What does it matter to you anyway, Beck? I'm crazy and always will be!" She then ignored Tori and Robbie's attempts to comfort her, instead just glaring at Beck.

"Cat, it's only been a _day_. You haven't been here a _day_, and you're already saying this was a mistake?"

"I came back for one reason only." Cat spoke firmly, "and that was to see my son, and finish my education here so I can go live my dreams, like _everyone else_."

"Good." Beck said, "Then stay and I'll take you to see him after school."

"But, Beck—" Tori spoke up, "She just yelled at you, and had one of her episodes, do you think taking her to see him is a good idea?" She looked at Cat apologetically, "and I'm not saying that to be a bitch, I'm say that because I feel you should be _ready_ to see him. And so should he."

Cat nodded, "Oh, yeah. I understand perfectly." She looked at all three of them, and at Robbie who had been oddly silent the entire time. "Just because you all think I'm crazy means I can't go see my son. Just fucking perfect!"

Then she walked away from them, ignoring Beck and Tori's calls to her, walking until she got to her car, and got inside of it, backing out of her spot and speeding off. She didn't really know where she was going, she just _knew_ she had to do something, and if that meant spending the night in the hospital, then _so be it_.

Meanwhile, Beck had just stared after her in disbelief, he knew Tori was right though, but he couldn't believe she'd said what she said. He turned to Tori, and was for once in his life, completely speechless.

"Beck, I—" Tori began and he held his hand up, and shook his head.

"It's not your fault." He said, quietly. "Let's just go to class."

He walked into the school, and immediately went to go find Jade. He _needed _her right now, and he knew she'd fix whatever he was feeling.

He soon gave up though, and just leaned against the lockers, as he saw Jade slowly approach him. "Beck are you alright?" She asked him, "Tori told me that—" He didn't let her finish as he had grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him, pressing his lips against hers in a heated and passionate kiss. And even when Jade thought it was over, he just pulled her back in _for more_.

Finally he broke it, and leaned his forehead against hers. "You know I love you, right?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I do."

"Then do you think you can help me?"

"Of course, anything."

He pulled away and just looked at her for a moment before playing with her fingers, "I need you to be friends with Cat."

Her eyes jumped up to look at him and he just smiled at her sadly. "I know you're not comfortable with the past we share, and someday we'll tell you everything, but she really needs someone here who believes in her other than Tori, Robbie, Andre and I. She's had a rough life, trust me." He said, "and right now she's so lost… and not anyone of us can fix it, except maybe you?"

She was silent for a moment before she pressed her lips against his and nodded, "Yeah, I'll do it. I'll be friends with her… for you."

He just smiled at her and pulled her close, kissing the top of her head. "Thank you, you don't know how much this means to me."

Jade nodded, but inside she knew it was a bad idea. If she and the girl who was her fiance's first… well _everything_ became friends, then that could possibly cause a rift in between them… and that was the last thing she wanted.

She didn't know how it could be fixed, but she'd try. She'd try her damn hardest to understand the younger girl and her past, and just be there to support her, her jealously and harshness be damned.

**CHRISTMAS – STRATFORD, CANADA (SEVENTH GRADE)**

The first time Beck had _really _seen the dark side of Cat, was the day he couldn't forget, no matter how damn hard he tried. He was walking to the hill where everyone went sledding down winter, and had passed by his girlfriend's house. Luckily, his cousins had run up way before him, so he was pretty much alone. He saw her sitting on a patch of green grass, with skinny jeans on, and heels that were much too high and inappropriate for a thirteen year old to wear. She had on a thin silk tank top, and a black leather jacket.

She must have been freezing her ass off, but what scared him was the dead look on her face. She seemed like _she wasn't even there_. He walked up to her, and put his warm hand on her cheek causing her to look at him.

"Hi, what are you doing here?" She asked him, as she blinked out of whatever trance she was in.

"I was walking to Mucker's Hill." He said, "I was going to go sledding with my cousins, but they ran ahead of me, and… then I just saw you here. Why are you just sitting in this outfit, in the middle of the snow?"

She shrugged, "I don't know, my dad and I got into a fight so I decided to just sit out here and think."

"In the freezing cold?" he asked as he unwrapped his scarf and put it around her neck. "Come on, Cat, let's get you back inside, you're going to catch your death out here."

"I don't care." She said, her tone sounding low, and unlike her usual high pitched one. "I'd rather just die."

His eyes widened and he felt his stomach drop. "What? Don't say that!"

"Why not?" She asked him, "Why would it matter? My life sucks anyway."

"What part of it sucks? Your dad? Then fuck him! He doesn't deserve you then."

She laughed humorlessly, "Yeah, that's what he said about you too."

"Excuse me?"

She shrugged, "He said I was a nothing, a piece of shit and that I didn't deserve to have a boyfriend and a best friend as good as you. He says you're too good for me."

"Well, don't listen to him." He said, "He doesn't know what the hell he's talking about."

She just stared at him for a moment before connecting her lips with his and kissing him deep and gentle. When she broke it, she just looked at him, rubbing his cheek with her thumb.

"Let's be real, Beck. I'm a nothing to no one. Especially my dad. He doesn't care about me and made that clear from the moment I was born."

"Cat, he's just an asshole who loves to make you feel like shit." Beck reminded her. "I've known him just as long as you have and I've seen what he'd said and done to you. Don't take it personally anymore, what he says shouldn't affect you because it's not true."

"I know, but—"

He pressed his lips against hers, and it shut her up. "I love you, okay? I love you and I don't want you to feel like you don't belong here because of one thing your dad told you."

Her eyes widened, but then they grew smaller, and she smiled at him, "You really love me?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I do."

"Well, I love you too." She said, and kissed his lips again softly.

Their moment was then broken by the front door to her house opening and her father coming out, a look of complete and total anger on his face.

"Courtney! You get your ass in here, _now_." He demanded, and she stood up, turning to look at him, her hand in Beck's.

"No!" She yelled back. "I'm going with Beck!"

"Who's he?"

Beck blinked for a minute, _really_?

"This is Beck. He's my boyfriend! And he just told me he loves me, so everything you said earlier doesn't mean anything to me anymore!" She yelled at him, she backed up, taking Beck with her. "I'm going with Beck for today. I don't want to be near you _at all_."

"You don't talk to me that way." Her father snapped, "I will not be disrespected that way."

"Too fucking bad for you then." Cat snapped, and turned, walking to the sidewalk. "See you later dad! Don't drink too much alcohol!" She then started to giggle and then ran—with trouble, since she was still wearing her heels—down the street until she reached the end of the huge block, which was just across the street from Beck's house. She had then stopped so suddenly, Beck crashed into her, causing them both to fall the ground with him on top of her. She giggled more and ran her fingers through his hair.

"I can't believe I just did that!" She tried to catch her breath, her voice sounding more and more excited as she spoke. "I mean, wow! I just told my dad off for the first time in my _entire _life!"

"Yeah, I know." Beck breathed, trying to catch his breath, but looking at her worriedly since she had gone from wanting to kill herself to being happy to pissed off and telling her father off to… what he assumed was an adrenaline high. She was then back to happy kissing him deeper and harder than she ever had before in their relationship, not counting the Halloween party a few weeks back.

And for the next few minutes, they just lay there, making out until Beck reluctantly pulled away, he held his hand out to her, and pulled her up, wrapping his arm around her he led her across the street to his house. He opened the door, and led her inside, where his family was in the living room watching a Christmas movie.

"Hey." He said, his arm still wrapped around Cat. "We're gonna uh, go upstairs, okay?"

"Where are Tristan and Bobby?" His aunt asked, "Are they with you?"

"Huh, what?" Beck snapped out of his trance and looked at his aunt, "Uhm, no. Actually they went ahead, but I'm sure they know they're way back… they've been here millions of times."

She nodded her head, and smiled at Cat, "Hello, Courtney, how are you?"

"I'm okay." She whispered, suddenly shy. "Merry Christmas."

"And a Merry Christmas to you as well, dear. It was nice seeing you."

"You too." Cat said and Beck waved, leading them up the stairs to his bedroom where they nearly tripped on all of his cousin's toys. "Beck…" She suddenly said and he looked at her as he picked up a toy.

"What? What's wrong?"

_(His family doesn't like you! Your father was right!_)

She shook her head ridding herself of what had just happened, and looked at him, "Does your family like me?"

"Well, yeah. Didn't you see how my aunt just talked to you? Of course they like you."

(_That was just a cover up! She hates you!_)

"Ugh! Stop!" Cat yelled suddenly, causing Beck to stop what he was doing and pull her hands from her head.

"Cat? What happened? What's wrong?"

(_You should have killed yourself, if he hadn't found you, you'd probably be dead since your father just pushed you out there and clearly didn't care about what happened to you!_)

"JUST SHUT UP!" She nearly screamed, "THAT'S NOT TRUE!"

"I haven't said anything!" Beck yelled at her, "What the hell has gotten into you!"

She looked at him, and then at her hands, which he was holding, and immediately pulled them away.

(_He doesn't care about you either! Look at him! Do it!_)

She did and gasped, to her, her looked pissed off and angry, but in reality he was just really concerned and scared for her.

She sat on his bed and began to whimper as the voices then went away and felt Beck wrap his arm around her, rocking her back and forth as she began crying. He took off her heels, and got her to change into one of his sweats and a warm sweater, and then did the same and lay with her on his bed his arms wrapped tightly around her as she cried and cried until she fell asleep.

He began to get _really _worried. What was going on with her? And why was she always switching her moods as if it was a play and she had to do it to stay in character?

He looked at her, and saw she was fast asleep, her eyes closed, her body shaking, but he figured that was because she was cold. He grabbed his blanket and laid it over her body, holding her and kissing her head until he too soon fell asleep.

About an hour later, he was woken up again, by his little cousin, Maureen who was only about four years old. "BECKY!" She yelled, and he immediately woke up, noticing Cat was still asleep… surprisingly. She must have just been really tired, which could have been the cause for her outburst earlier.

"Maureen! Not so damn loud!" He scolded her, and she just nodded.

"Okay." She whispered, "Sorry."

"It's okay." He told her, and then got out of bed, taking her hand and leading her out in the hallway. "Wanna come with me to get something to drink?"

Maureen nodded, and together they went downstairs, where most of his family was. Thankfully, Tristan and Bobby were back from sledding and were talking to his uncle and aunt about something, but he couldn't quite hear it. He assumed it was just about the day they spent sledding.

"Mommy!" Maureen went to another aunt of his and tugged her sleeve. "Becky was upstairs with a girl and they were sleeping together!"

His whole family seemed to hear that, and stopped speaking, looking at him with a look of shock on their faces.

"Uh, I can promise you… we weren't having sex." He said, and they all breathed a sigh of relief. "We uh, just fell asleep together that's all." _How awkward_. His family nodded and resumed their business. He then went to pull his mother aside as she had some experience with psychology, and could probably tell him what had happened with Cat earlier. "Can I speak with you for a moment?"

His mother nodded, "Yeah?"

"Uhm, so earlier, I was in my room cleaning when Cat, she uhm, grabbed her head and started to yell at me to stop, but I wasn't doing anything. And then she kept going like that for a few minutes yelling and crying until she finally just stopped yelling and cried herself to sleep." His mother immediately looked concerned and took him away from their family.

"What was she yelling about?"

"Well, she had asked me if our family liked her, and when I told her yes, she then said to stop, and that it's not true, but I don't know what she was talking about."

"Okay, and have you noticed anything else recently?"

He thought for a moment before snapping his fingers. "Her moods! They're always changing. She goes from happy to sad to angry to happy to sad to high off life then back to sad and happy and it keeps going like that." He then thought for another moment, and then looked at his mother, "and earlier, she scared me. She was saying she wanted to kill herself."

His mother nodded, sadly. "I think she might be bipolar." She said, and he looked at her shocked. "I mean, with what I've seen with her, her entire life is that she always had these outbursts and would constantly switch her moods. But I don't know, I'm not a professional." She reminded him, "but from what I can remember from what I learned is that she's showing symptoms of bipolar disorder, and that's a serious illness."

"But—" he felt tears come to his eyes much to his annoyance. "No." His mother wrapped his arms around him and held him as tears slipped down his cheeks. How could an innocent, sweet, girl like Cat have such a serious illness? He was in love with her and thought they were good together, but maybe… even he couldn't fix her.

"So, what do we do now?" He sniffled after a moment, wiping his eyes.

"We need to go talk to her father and see if he'll take her to a therapist. They're the only one who can properly diagnose her."

"Her father won't do anything. He doesn't even care about her."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well, she told me he said that no one cared about her and that she was nothing." He shrugged, "And that's why she wanted to kill herself earlier."

"Okay, we'll just need to talk to her about everything later, okay?" Beck nodded.

"Okay." He whispered.

He excused himself and then walked upstairs to his room where he saw Cat whimpering and shaking in the bed, he immediately ran towards her and grabbed her shoulders, lightly shaking her. "Cat! Cat! Wake up!" He yelled and her eye shot open. She got up and looked at him, her eyes red, tears streaming down her cheeks, and immediately wrapped her small arms around him.

"They're coming for me…" She whispered, "I had a nightmare."

"No one's going to get you, I promise." He said rubbing her back and taking her hand and rubbing it as well. "I'll protect you, okay?" She nodded against him and he let out another sigh, ignoring the tears threatening to spill over his eye lids.

Maybe his mother was right, she was bipolar, but… even knowing that it didn't make him feel any better, in fact, it made him feel much, much worse.

**PRESENT DAY **

Cat sat in the hospital bed, her eyes downcast as a nurse looked her over and then assured her a doctor would be there momentarily. She just nodded, and played with her fingers, as her phone began to ring.

She picked it up, looking at the caller ID. It showed an unknown number, so she thought to ignore it but then changed her mind. "Hello?"

"Cat? It's Jade." Her eyes widened. How the hell did she get her number? No one but Robbie had it… especially since she'd disconnected her old one before. "I uhm, got your number from Robbie."

Of course.

"Why are you calling me? I thought you hated me."

"I don't know you well enough to hate you." Jade reminded her and Cat sighed. She had a point."

"Okay, then why are you calling me?"

"I want to come and talk to you, maybe be friends? I mean, I care about Beck and you seem really important to him, so I think you and I should be friends… so I can get to know the girl he cares so much about."

"He doesn't care that much about me anymore." Cat whispered. "He cares way more about you now."

"Well, yeah. But I'm second to his son." Jade let out an airy laugh and Cat felt he stomach drop.

"I didn't know you met Bentley." Cat said… "well, you must've since you two are engaged, but uhm… wow."

"Yeah, I'm assuming you've met him as well since you know his name and all correct?"

"I uh… guess." Cat said, "Sure." Since Jade didn't know he was her son, she figured it was best not to tell her, unless Beck did. "I haven't seen him in two years though."

"Yeah, he's so cute. He loves to color and draw. And for some reason he loves to make the animals different colors than what they're supposed to be."

Cat felt a pain in her chest, that's _exactly what she'd do_. "Yeah, that's pretty cute." She said, and then saw her door open. "Look, I have to go, but I'll meet you maybe sometime this week? Now that I have your number I'll text you or something, okay?"

"Alright, sounds good. See you soon."

"Yeah, bye." Cat said and hung up the phone just as the doctor approached her. She felt like shit, worse than she did before. Tears stung her eyes and she willed them to not spill over her cheeks. Beck had obviously replaced her in Bentley's life, if Jade was able to see him so soon in their relationship. She didn't exactly know when that was, but she imagined Beck wanted to be upfront with her about his son.

And that alone just made her feel so guilty. Like maybe she should've gotten the help she needed before so that she was able to be in his life.

She looked up at her doctor who had been speaking, but she hadn't really heard him.

"Excuse me?"

"I was just asking you how you were doing and if you've been keeping up with your medication." He said and she looked at her hands, trying to remember if she'd taken her medication that day.

And then she realized, she hadn't. She'd gotten into a fight with her stepmother the night before and had been trying to find her medication, but upon realizing she was late for school, didn't bother with it, and just left.

She didn't take her medication for the first time in a year and ten months because she had _forgotten_.

That wasn't helping her, not at all. Her recovery was becoming more and more difficult to keep up with, so she looked up at her doctor, and told him the honest truth.

"No." She whispered, "I forgot today."

"That's not healthy, Courtney." He said, "Once you're given the medication, you are required to keep up with it, just missing it once can cause a major change in your system."

Well, that explained her actions at school.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I won't do it again."

(_Yeah, you better hope you don't you loser!_)

"Did anything unusual happen to you today?" The doctor asked and she nodded.

"Yeah, the voices… they came back. And I had a panic attack or something, and my moods kept switching back and forth." He nodded again and wrote something down then looked at up at her.

"Okay, well from the records I've received from treatment center you were in for the past two years, they had diagnosed you with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, bulimia, and addiction to meth, is this correct?"

Cat nodded, "All of it is true."

"And according to what they have here, is you have a son, is that correct as well?"

Cat nodded again. "Yes."

"And where is he now?"

"He lived with his father for the past two years while I went for treatment." Cat said, "I haven't gone to see him yet since being back."

"Alright." He wrote a few more things down and looked at her. "I'm going to give you a higher dosage of your medication, alright? You are required to take it _everyday_, no excuses, understand?" She nodded, "I don't want you to go back down the path you were on before, so I'm going to do my best to make sure that doesn't happen, alright?"

Cat nodded, "Thank you." She said, and the doctor nodded walking out of the room.

"I'll be back in a few minutes." She nodded again and just lay on the bed staring up at the ceiling and thinking for a few minutes.

Jade had wanted to be her friend, out of now where, and all she wanted to know was _why_?

She sighed, and just lay on her side, closing her eyes. All she wanted to was sleep, and she figured now was a good a time as any to do it.

_Yeah.. a little background on Cat's life before treatment, and what's up with Jade? Hm.. anyway, there you go. I told you what her problems are. Aren't I just cool? But when she tells everyone else… dramaaa! And how does Tori feel about Jade and Cat's new friendship? Well, you'll have to keep reading to see it! Yay! _

_Anyway, yes, this is a Beck and Jade story, but it's pretty much Beck and Cat and Jade and Cat, but the end result will be Beck and Jade… and you'll see why later. _

_So, I'm deciding when should Cat see Bentley? A week after coming back? A month? Until she's fully recovered or should she as soon as she gets out of the hospital? Let me know what y'all think! _

_Hope you enjoyed it! _


	4. Chapter 4

Jade meanwhile, got off the phone, and smiled to herself. Even though she was sort of jealous how close Cat and Beck seemed to be, she knew becoming friends with her would be good for all of them. And she'd do pretty much _anything _for Beck.

She lay on her bed, her phone beside her, and closed her eyes. She was just about to fall asleep when the phone went off. She picked it up to see she had a text, from Beck.

_Hey_.

_Hey_. She texted back. _What's up_?

_Nothing. Just about to put Bentley to sleep. He wants me to read him a story._

_So read him one then. _

_I would, but… he wants you here, otherwise he won't listen to it at all._

Wow, what a demanding child, she thought. She sighed, and got off the bed, picking up her keys, she yawned and left, getting into her car. She drove the short drive to Beck's and got out, she had a key, so she unlocked the front door to the house, and went inside where she saw Beck sitting on the ground in the living room with Bentley, playing with him. He looked up and smiled at her as she smiled back, leaning against the doorframe.

"What's up you guys?" She asked, going over them and bending down to Bentley's level. "Why are you still awake?"

"I wanted you to read me a story." He said shyly. "So pleaseee?"

Jade laughed, "Okay. I will, what story?"

He pulled out an old, torn up book that she'd never seen before. She took it from him and looked at him turning it over in her hands. "Where did you get this?"

"Daddy says it was my mommy's." He said and she nodded, taking a deep breath.

"Okay." She said, opening it she began to read as he went to sit on her lap, looking at the pictures in the book with interest. Beck stood up and kissed her on the top of her head, and then went into the other room to change.

She began to read the Dr. Suess book in her hands, while he got comfortable. About two pages into the book, Beck came rushing into the room, a panic stricken look on his face. She looked up, and shot him a concerned look. "Beck?" She whispered. "What's going on?"

"It's Cat." He began, staring at his phone in disbelief. "I…just got a text from Robbie. She's in the hospital."

"What?" She said, and Bentley looked up at them.

"Is she okay?"

Beck looked at him, giving him a gentle look, and kneeled down to his height. He ran his fingers through his hair, and sighed. "I don't know. She's had a lot of problems before, so I'm gonna go and see, okay?"

Bentley nodded.

"Can I come with you?" She asked, and Beck turned to her.

"If you want…"

"I do." She spoke firmly, "I'd like to get to know her better."

"Well, no one's here to watch Bentley, so we'll have to take him with us." Beck sighed, looking at his son, and taking him, balancing him on his side. "Come on kid, you're going to come with us."

"You're letting me stay up late?"

Beck nodded, "Yes I am. But don't tell anyone!"

The little boy grinned, "Okay!"

Cat was laying on her hospital bed, her back to the door, just staring into nothingness, when she heard someone come in the room, and take a seat beside her bed. She didn't look at them.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, "No, actually, why are you here?"

"Because…" He said, "Regardless of what you've been through, you're still my best friend, and… I wanted to be here."

"What about Bentley?" She whispered, "And Jade?"

"They're… outside the room." He said, and she finally looked at him, her eyes darting around at a fast pace.

"What?"

"Don't worry." He said, "I won't let him come in and see you unless you're ready, but uhm, he is really concerned about you, Cat."

"How?" She asked. "He doesn't even know who I am."

"I've told him stories." He said, "He knows a general idea of who you are, but he would like to someday meet you."

She then sat up, staring at him hard, her eyes dark. "Why? His mother is a fucking nutcase! He probably wouldn't even…" She trailed off, biting her lip and looking away. "..he wouldn't even like me."

"Don't say that." Beck's voice sounded pained. "He's going to li—" He stopped himself and looked at her, "He's going to _love_ you."

"Yeah, well… hopefully." She shrugged, looking away. "I just left him, what mother leaves their son for two years?"

"A mother who needed help so she could be healthy and spend all the time in the world with her son." Beck said, moving from the chair to a spot on her bed. He took her hand and looked her in the eyes. "you're doing a good thing." He told her honestly. "And I couldn't be more proud of you."

She gave him a small smile, "Thanks."

He smiled at her and nodded. And then let go of her hand, which just made her miss him holding it all the more, "Jade wants to come in and talk to you.. if you're not ready to tell her anything you don't have to. But I have to take her place with Bentley, so I'll come back in later, okay?"

"Okay." She whispered, nodding her head.

He gave her another smile, and left. A moment later, the door opened again and Jade walked in. She walked over to her, giving her a smile, and took a seat on her bed, shifting around a few times, she got comfortable and looked at Cat.

"Hey." She said.

"Hey." Cat said back. "Uhm, I don't mean to be rude, but why are you here?"

"I…" She trailed off for a second, and then just shrugged. "I wanted to make sure you were okay. I mean…" She trailed off again and Cat nodded, somewhat understanding.

"Okay. You want to be friends with me?" Cat asked, and Jade nodded, "Then there are things you should know. I…I have problems, and they're serious problems…and someday I'll tell you and everyone else what they were, but right now I'm not really ready. But I disappeared for two years to uhm, receive treatment," Cat looked at her lap, running her fingers through her hair, and then looked up at Jade. "I had a breakdown and yeah, that's where I am now. I had another episode today because I got in a fight with my fucking stepmother and forgot to take them… which is the first time I've done that since going into treatment."

Jade nodded, "Alright."

"Uhm, Beck has… he has always been my best friend, ever since we were really, really little. And yes, we have a history, but what we had between us is long over with now that he has you." She felt a lump in her throat, but swallowed it. "I do love him, but more like a friend, a brother… and I don't want what we had before to become in between you and him or me and you."

Jade nodded, "No. I understand that." She whispered.

"Okay, good." She said.

"Okay." Cat sighed, "Good." She repeated. "You know, feel free to ask anything you'd like. I won't bite."

Jade laughed lightly. "Well uhm, I was wondering… I know you don't want to share what you're diagnosis was, but may I ask what caused these problems? Why you had to go into treatment and such?"

Cat sighed, blowing air out of her mouth causing her bangs to fly upward. "I… don't really know. But from what I've heard, my mother was uhm, really messed up."

Jade nodded, "You and I have something in common then."

"I'm… sorry?" Cat tilted her head confused and she looked so cute and innocent it caused Jade to smile.

"My mom was—or still is really messed up." Jade said. "She treats me like crap, never really sees me much unless it's out for lunch or whatever and she's like always with my stepfather… they got married a few years ago. She's always in denial and just… I don't know, doesn't want anyone to know she has a daughter. So I'm always pretty much on my own."

Cat nodded, "what about your dad?"

"He's got a new wife, with a dog, and cares solely for them. He really doesn't care for me or support my dreams or anything. He thinks anything related to performing arts is a waste of time." Jade shrugged, "He's a lawyer anyway so I don't see him much. I just get stuck with the stepmother from hell."

Cat laughed, "Trust me, my stepmother isn't much better either."

"I still think my mom's bipolar, but you know… I've decided I didn't really give a shit anymore since she doesn't about me, so I gave up on it."

Cat looked down nodding. "Yeah, my mother… she was bipolar. Really bipolar. She had me really, really young—which apparently was a mistake, but soon after having me she passed away. So I never got to know her."

Jade nodded, it was silent for a moment between them, when Jade spoke again. "I'm glad we're becoming friends you know, I think it's a good thing."

"I do too." She said, "Sorry it's under these circumstances."

Jade shook her head. "Nothing to be ashamed of." She said. "But…on a lighter note. What's your favorite movie?"

Cat looked at her, "Of all history?" Jade nodded. "The Lion King. Or Rodger Rabbit. I love that one."

"Really? I do too… it's a classic." Jade looked thoughtful. "Do you like to shop?" She asked, and Cat nodded again.

"I love it. I haven't had much time recently, but I'd love to do it again soon."

"Hot tubs?"

Cat smiled and thought about the last time she was in a hot tub before she had her breakdown. "I love them." She whispered.

"Okay." Jade stood up, "We'll do this more later, okay? I should get going though, but…" She surprised Cat by leaning over and giving her a tight hug. "Get better, I'l see you soon?"

Cat nodded, smiling at her. "Definitely."

**KATIE'S 14****th**** BIRTHDAY PARTY – SEVENTH GRADE**

The party had been going on for an hour, and Cat was bored. She had her bathing suit on underneath her outfit… not that it'd come to any use anytime soon.

She was just sitting on the couch sipping her soda, having just finished a never ending conversation with some girl in her class, when Beck came up to her, smiling her sat down.

"What's up?"

"What's up?" She asked and he nodded, "Nothing. I'm bored as shit."

"Okay…" He said, wrapping his arm around her and pulling her close to him taking a sip from his drink as well. "What do you want to do?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. Go in the hot tub?"

He smiled, "You read my mind."

They both got up, and walked to the back, opening the door they saw the hot tub was steaming and completely empty. They took off their clothes, leaving just their bathing suits on and got in. Cat got in though on the other end as Beck, and sighed leaning back and closing her eyes.

"Can I just stay here forever?" She asked and Beck laughed.

"Good luck with that." He said going to her, "Where are you going to do your schoolwork, and go places with me?"

She cracked one eye open, "You can always come here… bring me stuff. We can set up a flatscreen tv over there… bring dvds, some popcorn, and we'll be set!"

Beck laughed, "You'd be lonely."

Cat then opened her eyes and turned her head slightly towards him, looking at him, "No…not with you here I won't be." She said quietly and put her hand on his cheek leaning in and kissing his lips gently. He pushed forward to deepen the kiss and she leaned back a bit, pressing her lips against his harder. His hands were slowly going up her side, about to hit her chest, and go further when they both got interrupted causing them to jump and break apart.

"Hey!" Their friend, Wilder said, sticking his head in between them both and smiling. "What's up?"

"Making lemonade." Beck said, sarcastically. "What do you think we were doing?"

"Making out." He said, and Beck threw his hand up, sighing irritably.

"Very good Wilder, now leave!"

"Why?" He asked, innocently and Cat put her hand over mouth covering it, trying not to laugh.

"Because we're busy!"

"Gosh, all you had to say was, "Wilder leave we're busy." And I would've gone like ten seconds ago!"

"Wilder! I'm going to kill you!"

Cat then burst out laughing burying her head in Beck's shoulder covering her face. "Oh my god." She said, and lifted her head. "Calm down, babe."

"He's driving me nuts! Go bug Noah or something."

"I can't." He said sadly. "He's too busy playing Twister."

Cat laughed again. "Okay, Wilder, if you'd like you can—"

"Hey, Wilder!" They heard and before Cat could finish her sentence, he was off.

"Oh my god." Cat said, "I love him."

"Yeah, sure. He's alright when he's not being a pain in my ass."

Cat laughed grabbed his head, pulling him towards her she kissed him forcefully. "Don't worry." She said. "I'm not going anywhere."

And with that, he kissed her deeper, bringing her to sit on his lip and straddle him. She pushed herself forward and inadvertently grinded herself against him causing him to groan. They kissed harder and faster, her arms going around his neck, as he ran his fingers up and down her back.

She bit down on his lip, and then broke the heated make out session. She looked at him, breathing heavily. Beck looked at her doing the same, noticing how in just two months, he could see a major change. She had gone to see psychiatrist or prescribed her medication so she could control her moods a bit better. She didn't have a major breakdown in a while, and he was happy for that.

"I think I'm ready." She whispered, and he looked at her.

"Ready?"

She nodded, "Yeah…"

He nodded, and without a word, moved her off of him and got up out of the hot tub pulling her up with him. They grabbed their stuff, and started saying bye to everyone—with Wilder winking at them, causing Beck to roll his eyes—and walked to her house which was just down the block. Her father had left her alone for the week, so they knew that was a good place to do it.

They got into her room and she turned around to face him, looking at him nervously.

"We don't have to do this you know…" He trailed off. "If you're ready it doesn't mean tonight is the night."

"I know." She said, walking closer to him. She kissed him gently. "But will you stay anyway?"

He smiled at her, "Of course I will."

**PRESENT TIME **

Cat was released from the hospital the next morning. She didn't really feel like going home so she surprised everyone by showing up at school. She walked into Sikowitz's class and took a seat in the back. Tori turned to her and mouthed 'what happened' but all she got was a wave of dismissal in return.

Once it was over, Sikowitz called Cat up to speak to him, which she did… she watched everyone leave the class, and while still seated. She looked down at her hands, and played with them as Sikowitz looked at her, trying to find the once happy girl (_or so he thought_).

"I heard about your little breakdown yesterday," He began and Cat looked at him, "Is everything okay?"

She didn't answer him just shrugged her shoulders and kept looking away.

"Look, kid. I know you've gone through a lot in the past couple years, and I respect everything you did to get better, really I do, but may I ask… what happened?"

"What do you mean what happened?" Cat asked, in a raspy voice. "I had a breakdown two years ago, everyone witnessed it, and then it just got worse later in the day… like, honestly, what's there to talk about?"

Sikowitz was quiet as he walked over to her slowly and then kneeled down putting his hand on her knee. "What did the doctors tell you in treatment?"

"They...they found many thing wrong with me." She said, "I'm not ready to say, but uh, yeah."

"It's not healthy to keep it bottled in." He spoke gently. "They say a whole part of recovery is talking about it. It helps you, and gives you a sense of relief." He looked at her and she just stared back at him biting her lip, she felt tears come to her eyes and immediately felt frustrated. Like, she wanted to blow up.

"I can't talk about it!" She suddenly got up and started to yell at him. "It's too embarrassing!"

"Cat…"

"No!" She said, "I don't want to talk about it, why can't you just let it go?" She grabbed her things and began to walk out, when she felt her arm being tugged back, she was spun around and was met with an angry Sikowitz, which was a first for her.

"I was you once, you know." He said, his voice oddly calm. "I had a problem too—with drugs. I was addicted to meth, cocaine, heroin, you name it…" Her eyes widened as she realized where he was going with this. "I was in treatment too, for a hell of a long time, and I still am." He paused to guage her reaction but she didn't let down, "you have to _speak_, Cat. I know it's embarrassing and it hurts, but Beck was—and I'm assuming still is your best friend, correct? So, I suggest you let him know what happened, and let him know everything you went through."

"I-I-" She pulled her arm away from him and looked away. "I can't!" She felt the tears fall from her eyes and down her cheeks. "Okay? I just can't! It was bad enough he had to see me in the hospital last night! And did you know? He brought Jade and Bentley with him… I didn't want my son to see me in a damn hospital bed for the first time in two years… that's—that's pathetic! To see your mother who is very crazy, and very mentally ill! I mean—" She turned around and suddenly kicked a chair over knocking it to the ground she threw her bag to the ground and sat on a chair covering her face with her hands, she cried for a minute.

"Cat—" Sikowitz said, his voice sounding pained as she had been one of his favorite students. "Tell me what's going on…"

She looked at him, "I—I can't."

"Yes," He said, "Yes you can. Take a deep breath and take your time."

She was quiet again for a few minutes before she began to speak, "I found out, while I was there that my mother… she had problems, she was uhm, bipolar, manic depressive, schizophrenic and just crazy. My whole life my father told me I had killed her when I had been born, as she had passed away soon after from blood loss, but the truth was… she had killed herself. And, she did it a week after I was born…" She looked so pained, it killed Sikowitz. "But uhm, as I grew older, I began showing the _same_ signs she had. I started to hear voices when I was thirteen, and my moods constantly changed. Beck and his mother were able to tell immediately so I went to a thereapist where they gave me mood control medication, but it didn't really do much, it lasted for a while, but there was a time where I'd get _really _bad, and Beck would be there to help me."

She shook her head and looked away again. "I was eventually put on stronger medication, which helped keep the voices away, but would forget to take them. So I would get worse and worse… and two years ago, I was here, and I began to hear voices, and they told me Beck was going to break up with me. That I was nothing, useless and I should just kill myself, so at lunch I started to scream and hit myself repeatedly against the lockers. Beck and Tori had found me, but I ran off, into the parking lot where Robbie was and started to breakdown crying screaming and trying to pull my hair. Uhm, Andre had heard me and came to see what was wrong, and all of it was similar to what happened yesterday, but just like that… I was fine. And it worried the hell out of Beck and everyone else."

"So, when I went to his house, we got in a fight, in front of Bentley and he had convinced me to go to treatment for it. Once I had found out he had set it up with his mother I broke up with him and didn't seem him after that… until I came back two days ago…" She shook her head, and looked away. "Treatment was so scary, I mean I hated it I wanted to leave _immediately_, but knowing that Bentley was there on the otherside helped me move forward in the twelve step program and talk about… well everything."

She looked at him to see he was staring back at her intently. "They diagnosed me with schitzophrenia, bulimia, addiction to meth, and bipolar disorder." She finally told him and he just nodded. "I didn't take my mediaction yesterday because of my stepmother and the fight we had, so that caused my little breakdown yesterday, but yeah… I spent the night in the hospital and was released this morning… so here I am." She spread her arms and just looked at him bring them down. "I just wish Beck knew how grateful I was for everything he'd done for me, and that I didn't mean to be so angry towards him."

Sikowitz was quiet for a moment looking above her head, before speaking, "Something tells me he's got a very good idea."

"What?" Cat looked at him, and he just looked pointedly above her where she saw Beck there, leaning against the door, she was unable to read the look on his face, but when he came over to her and just hugged her, she knew he'd heard _everything_.

"Cat…" He whispered, and she could hear him crying a bit. Her body was shaking as she wrapped her arms around him, holding him she cried too.

"Beck… I'm so sorry." She said and he shook his head, pulling away he smiled at her, wiping her tears.

"You have no reason to be."

"Yes I do." She said, "I…I messed up so much."

"None of that was your fault. Despite everything that happened between us, you're my best friend, and you always will be. From the moment we were born…"

"To the day we die." She said back, something they'd recited to each other over and over growing up.

He looked at her for a second and then hugged her again, Cat looked up at Sikowitz, and mouthed, 'thank you'. He just smiled at her and nodded, giving her the 'okay' sign.

She felt a lot better, and knowing Beck was there for her just made her feel all the more happier. And she had Sikowitz to thank for that.

Later, that night, Bentley was in bed, fast asleep, and Beck was with Jade, laying on his bed, he looked at her. His phone buzzed, but he ignored it for a moment, playing with her fingers, and the ring.

"Are you okay, Beck?" Jade asked him, "I mean you've been all out of sorts since Sikowtiz's class."

He didn't say anything as he'd promised Cat—along with Sikowitz—that they wouldn't tell the others about what she'd said, until she was ready. Other than Lane of course, as he more or less had an idea since she'd come to him the first day stating that she had to see him three times a week and be given her medication a few times during the day.

"I'm fine." He smiled at her finally and leaned forward kissing her lips gently. She kissed him back, and got on top of him, pressing her lips against his harder, until she broke it, looking at him.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!" He laughed, kissing her again.

"Well, you know you can talk to me about anything right?"

"Yes, babe. I know." He said, and kissed her again, and then lay down, moving her so they lay together, her head on his chest. "Same to you, you know that right?"

"I know."

She was quiet for a minute before she began speaking, "You know I love you, right?"

"Of course I do." He smiled, "I love you too."

"I know.. I just with my parents…" She trailed off and Beck nodded.

"I understand, I feel that way with my dad sometimes too you know." Beck hardly ever talked about his father, so for him to bring it up like that, was pretty huge.

"I just… I'm glad we have each other."

"Really?"

She nodded.

"Even when I do things like this?" He flipped her on her back and then started to run his hands up and down her sides, causing her to squirm and laugh. He then pressed his lips against hers as she did the same, causing their lips to pop when they broke apart.

She smiled at him and put her fingers in his hair, running them through, "Yes, even when you do that."

_It's the past you're dying to change…_

_Ooh, Beck knows! And Sikowitz knows! So, what's gonna happen when everyone find out too? And when Cat meets Bentley again, or when Tori finds out about Cat and Jade's frienship? And where will that go? All these questions will be answered in the next few chapters! Whoo!_

_Review and tell me what your fav part of it is so far, if you have one. Haha. Hope you enjoyed this chapter… Cat's real first drug experience will be next chapter. _

_Oh, annnd what Cat told Sikowitz wasn't the whole story, if you could tell (if not then sorry for ruining it for you) as they story goes on you'll see more and more about everything that went on with her during her dark period. _

_So yeah, til next time… stay awesome! Hehehe._


	5. Chapter 5

**SEPTEMBER – EIGHTH GRADE **

Cat walked through the smoky house, dodging people who nearly ran her over by running full speed past her. She closed her eyes and coughed the fumes getting to her. She felt a little lonely since Beck wasn't with her as he had to visit family in Ajax.

She went to an empty space where she leaned against the wall, rubbing her arms self-consciously looking around the room, at the people who were partying like crazy. She had been invited by one of her friends, who had an older brother in eleventh grade. Their parents were out of town so they decided to throw a party. Beck had been invited, but couldn't make it, so Cat was pretty much on her own.

"Hey! Cat!" She heard and looked up to see her friend, Justin who had invited her to the party. She got off the wall grateful that she knew someone and ran to him, immediately wrapping her arms around him and hugging him. "Are you okay?" She nodded, "Okay, well come with me…" He said and she nodded again, following him she went out to the backyard where she saw a large group of people around a table, playing what looked like a card game—well to her it did.

"What's going on?" She asked, looking at Justin. "Are you gambling?" She gasped, "Illegally?"

He laughed at her, actually _laughed_. "No, Cat, relax. It's just a drinking game…"

_Like that made it any better! _

"That's illegal too!" She smacked him and he laughed even harder.

_What the fuck_?

"Okay, Justin, what's going on?" She demanded, narrowing her eyes and glaring at him, her hands on her hips.

"It's called King's Cup, it's really fun." He said, and then pointed behind her, where she turned to see _another_ big group playing another game. "That's also a good one, it's called Spoons."

She nodded, biting her lip she turned to him. "So, are we gonna play?"

Justin just stared at her for a second, before nodding his head. "Hell yeah, we're gonna play."

And they did, for the next couple hours. She kept losing and being the lightweight she was, she got drunk real fast.

"Come on, Cat, play another game…" One of Justin's brother's friends, Mark told her. "I mean… it's fun, and it's so cute when your eyes light up when you win…"

Was he hitting on her? For real?

"Uhm, I have a boyfriend." She said, happy to be able to remember that in her drunken state.

Mark looked around, "I don't see him anywhere."

"That's because he's in Ajax visiting family." She said, running her fingers through her hair.

"That's what he wants you to think." The girl next to Mark said, and Cat looked at her.

"Excuse me?"

"How do you know he's not out fucking another girl as we speak?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cat demanded, as her glare turned colder against the older girl.

"It means that he lied to you." She said, and Cat rolled her eyes.

"He wouldn't lie to me… he's my best friend, I've known him my whole life…and we're dating, and have been for almost two and a half years, so please, stay out of it!" She then slammed the cards on the table and stood up—somewhat wobbly—and walked out of the smoky, loud atmosphere. She walked out to the back of the house where she saw a few people hanging out in the pool, and kept walking until she reached a quiet spot to think.

She stared in front of her, tightening her sweater around her body, she watched as everyone continued to have a good time, and she continued to feel like shit.

After a few more minutes—and deciding she wanted to go home—she walked back inside the house, and crashed into a girl with blonde hair, and blue-grey eyes. She fell to the ground and immediately Cat went to help her back up.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" Cat said, as she grabbed her hand and pulled her up.

The girl on the other hand, laughed with her friend who had dark hair, and dark chocolate eyes. She then stopped as Cat began to walk away, "Hey!" Cat turned around, "What's your name?"

"I'm—" She stopped deciding not to tell her her nickname. "I'm Courtney." She said, and the girl nodded.

"I'm Ash, this is my best friend, Bianca." She said and Cat nodded. The girl smirked at her, "Aren't you dating Beck Oliver?"

Cat nodding again, "Yeah, that's me."

"Well, where is he?" Bianca asked her, narrowing her eyes towards the smaller girl.

"He's...uh, in Ajax visiting family!" Cat said just as her phone vibrated. She pulled it out and pressed the view button on the pink slvr to see it was a text from Beck. "Speaking of which… he just texted me!"

_Hey, Cat. I miss you, hope you're having fun at that party… since I'm just stuck here doing nothing… I miss you more. Anyway, hope to talk to you soon. Love you, Beck_

She looked up to see that Ash and Bianca were smirking at her.

"What?" She askd them, suddenly self-conscious.

"You know… Courtney, you've got the hottest guy in school as you boyfriend." Ash began, going behind her, and playing with her hair, causing her to flinch, and move away from her.

"I'm aware." Cat said, her voice trembling, suddenly wishing Beck was there with her.

"So, then… I gotta ask… how did you get so damn lucky?" Bianca asked and she looked at her confused.

"I've known him my whole life… we were best friends, and still are…" Cat said, "We—we know everything about each other."

"Well, that's good!" Ash said, her voice sounded condescending and Cat began to back away from the both of them, but instead of seeming angry, she just smiled at her, "you're very lucky, Courtney… so anyway, wanna come with us?"

"Come with you w-where?" Cat asked her voice was still shaky.

"Just follow us." Bianca told her, and she nodded, against her better judgment, but she figured it was probably just the alcohol and her normal paranoia.

_Yeah, go with them! That's a great idea! _

"Shut up!" She suddenly yelled and the two girls looked at her, she looked around and then bit her lip for a moment, closing her eyes, before opening them up again and speaking, "I…" She shook her head, unable to voice what she wanted to say. "Let's just keep going."

_You're such a idiot! Do you know that?_

"No, I'm not." She mumbled to herself, "I thought you were gone!"

_Nope! You're making a huge mistake, but you're nothing but an idiot anyway, so… go ahead and do it, see if anyone cares about you when you end up dead! _

"I won't end up dead!" She exclaimed, a little louder than she meant to, but shook it off. She looked at Ash, Bianca and a few other party goers, and sighed, "I tend to voice what I think sometimes… totally normal for me."

_Not really! _

"Shut up!" She snapped at herself, and then smiled, "Okay, so what the hell are we doing right now?"

"Just… keep, following us." Ash said, in a totally different tone than before. Cat would normally call it… bitchy.

Finally, they got to the room (and the voices had disappeared for a while), Cat was pushed inside the room, and she stumbled falling on to the uncomfortable leather couch, she straightened herself up only to fall again.

The two girls shut the door, and the smirked at her, Ash pulled out a baggy of white powder and Cat's eyes immediately widened.

"Is that…_coke_?" She whispered the last word, trying her hardest to refuse believing it was what it was. "Why? H-how do you have coke?"

"I have a hook-up." Ash shrugged, and then put some on her hand, she leaned forward and then snorted it in a matter of seconds.

And then suddenly, Cat began to panic. "Wha—what was—was that?" She asked, her voice shaking again.

_You should give it try! Go on!_

"Why should I when a second ago, you were call me an idiot?" She muttered, and then looked up just as Bianca did the same thing Ash had just a few minutes before.

"Whoo! Whoa!" She said as Ash laughed, and wiped her nose.

They then turned to Cat, who began to shake.

_Go on! Do it! You won't regret it! _

"B-but Beck might get mad." She muttered sadly. "I don't want to make him mad."

_He won't know! _

Cat looked up and saw that the two other girls were back to laughing again, so they didn't notice she was talking to herself.

_Do it! Or a loser for the rest of your life! _

"Uhm, Ash? Bianca?" She said, her voice quiet, only to find (surprisingly) that the girls didn't hear her. "ASH! BIANCA!" She shouted and they stopped looking at her, she sighed. "Okay, I want to do it."

"You sure?" Ash asked, narrowing her eyes and smirking at her. "You seemed a bit nervous before."

"Ignore it." Cat said as she took the small baggy from her. "Give me some."

"Okay, pour it on your hand, and then… do exactly what we did."

She did as she said and hesitated for a moment, deciding what she should _really _do. But before she could, the door opened and Justin walked in, she quickly hid the bag in her pocket, but kept the powder on her hand.

"Cat! Oh, wow! There you are—uhm, what are you doing here with them?" He asked, and Cat looked in between him and the girls. "Is that—is that _coke_?"

Cat looked at him and then at her hand, "What? Oh no!" She looked at him, "It's sugar!"

"Cat…" Justin advanced towards her, and grabbed her hand, "That's coke, I'm not stupid."

"How do you know?" Cat asked, and he looked at the two girls, pointing towards them.

"Because they're both high as fuck."

Cat stared at him for a moment and then down at her hand, he put his hand forward, intent on wiping it off, when she pushed him away. "Get the fuck away from me!"

"What the hell Cat?" He snapped, as Cat walked backwards, sitting on the couch. She put her hand up to her nose, and he spoke again, "You do that, I tell Beck and he'll dump your ass."

"No, you won't." Cat said, smirking at him.

"And give me one reason why I wouldn't."

_Yeah, give him one! You haven't even done it yet, and you've already turned into a bitch, what the hell is wrong with you?_

She shook her head, "Because I know you…" She said, "You're in love with me… and since you can't have me, you'll do anything you can to get him to break up with me."

Ash and Bianca looked at her, a bit shocked. "How did you know that?" Ash asked her and Cat just smirked.

"It's obvious." Cat said, "He's always flirting with me and hitting on me. It pisses Beck off a lot actually, but he doesn't say anything, because he knows it wouldn't make a damn difference." She stared at him hard, before she lifted her hand to her nose, and then snorted the coke. "Just like this didn't either."

"Cat, you're—you're making a mistake."

"Wait!" Ash said, "I thought your name was Courtney!"

"It's Cat. But whatever, I don't care. Call me whatever the fuck you want." She said, and then lay back, feeling the effects of what she did. She ran her hands over her body and stopped at her chest, she then threw her hands in the air and giggled. "I feel so good!"

_You're a fucking dumbass. _

"And for once, I don't fucking care!" She exclaimed, and then stood up. "I feel so good, I want to…I want to dance!"

"Go ahead." Justin told her. "Enjoy yourself tonight, because tomorrow is when everything is going to go downhill for you."

Cat walked to him, and narrowed her eyes, "You tell him about this, I'll tell him that you kissed me."

"W-what? He wouldn't believe that!" Justin cried, he threw his hands in the air, looking at her like she was _insane_, which she probably _was_.

"Who do you think he'd believe? His friend of only like a year, or his best friend and girlfriend of just about his whole life?" Cat asked, and he looked at her, in disbelief, not saying a word. "Yeah, that's what I thought… see ya later, Justin." And with that, she was gone.

Beck came back two days later, she hadn't known this though, and instead of getting up excitedly to meet him and say hi and be excited for the surprise, she jumped up from her bed and ran to the bathroom to throw up. When she came back out, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close kissing the top of her head.

"Are you alright?" He asked her, and she looked at him, _blankly_. But then nodded her head anyway.

"I'm fine." She smiled, weakly, and got into bed, pulling him down with her. She decided she wasn't going to tell him she'd partied the past three nights, drinking and snorting coke like it was nothing. Although all of it did make her feel physically _sick_, but she loved it, she loved the feeling of numbness and didn't want to give it up for anything.

Not even for her boyfriend who she was madly in love with.

"Cat—" He said, and she cut him off by kissing his lips, deep and hard, which caused him to shut up. She climbed on top of him, kissing him harder, and biting his lower lip causing him to gasp and her to slip her tongue inside his mouth, which only caused him to be even _more _surprised.

What the hell had gotten into her?

He gently pushed her off him, and laughed when she huffed as soon as she hit the bed. "Cat, I don't think we should do this—I mean, you're sick."

"I'm fine!" She whined, "I just missed you, okay? That's all." She said and then pressed her lips against his, causing him to groan again.

"I feel like there's something going on…and you'd tell me if there was, right?" He looked her in her eyes and she looked right back, she was silent for a few minutes before she finally responded.

"Yes, I would, but there's nothing wrong. I just miss you and I want… you." She said, "Please?" Her voice sounded small and sad, but quickly changed to one of happiness a few moments later, causing him to question whether or not she was taking her medication.

But just as he was about to ask, she seemed to sense what he was thinking and got on top of him, she leaned down and kissed him, grinding herself against him, she got him to groan into her mouth, which she knew meant his mind was, well, on something else.

"I love you." He muttered into her mouth and all she did was nod, her eyes filled with tears, but she quickly forced them away, wrapping her arms around his neck, she kissed him again, this time a bit gentle as he kissed her back, grinding herself against him, causing her to moan.

He flipped her over on her back, and held himself up with both his hands, she reached for the end of his hoodie and pulled it off him along with his shirt, resuming kissing him again, she began to take off her t-shirt, but he stopped her.

"What?" She demanded, and Beck just sat her up, he pulled her shirt off and then began to kiss her neck, causing her to moan and breathe heavier. "Okay, okay… please, Beck… just…" He seemed to hear her as he began to kiss her again, and a few minutes later, their clothes were off and he entered her causing her to moan louder.

He began to move faster, and harder as she wrapped her legs around his waist, causing him to in even deeper.

She moved with him, and tried to make him go deeper, but it only made him go in a different angle.

"B-Beck!" She breathed heavily, as he groaned into her chest. "D-don't stop!"

"I-I'm almost there." He said and she nodded.

"Me too."

And then they came, finishing one after the other and breathing heavily as he kissed her lips gently and lay down beside her, he pulled himself out of her and then turned her over on her side, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close. She groaned at the feeling of her chest against his, but put her chin on his shoulder, she stared outside her French doors, and felt tears come to her eyes.

She knew she should've been honest with him and tell him what had happened.

But she couldn't.

_Because you're a dumb idiot! _

"Go away!" She mumbled and then bit her lip to keep from crying. Beck looked at her, but she shook her head, "I'm just tired." She told him and he nodded getting up he put on his boxers and then gave her his t-shirt and her boy shorts which she put on, and then lay back down in the bed. "Please… don't leave." She said and he nodded, wrapping his arms around her once again, he held her tighter.

"I won't go anywhere, I promise."

**PRESENT DAY **

Cat slammed her locker shut, and then leaned her head against it hitting it repeatedly.

"Uh, Cat?" She looked up to see Tori was there, looking at her worriedly. "Are you alright?"

"Uhm… yeah." She shrugged, and looked at her wrists, where she saw the scars, the memories, the memories and scars she wanted to get rid of more than anything. She realized she hadn't spoken in quite a while and looked at her friend. "I..I'm just having trouble adjusting that's all."

Tori nodded understandingly. "I'm sorry, but if you need to talk, about anything, I'm here."

She smiled at her, "thank you; that means so much to me."

The doors then opened and they both turned to see Jade and Beck walk in, he had his head close to hers, and was telling her something while she laughed, his arm that was already around her shoulders tightened and he pulled her towards him, kissing her. She then said something to him and he laughed, as she then kissed him, leaving her lips against his a little longer they then broke it, and he kissed her again, before he took his arm down and grabbed her hand, holding her close, their fingers intertwined, they walked up to Cat and Tori.

"Hey, you." Jade said, speaking towards Cat. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Cat said, her tone surprisingly cold and annoyed.

"Okay, I was just asking." Jade said defensively and Cat sighed, running her fingers through her hair.

"I'm sorry… I'm just sick of people asking me that." She said, and Jade nodded.

"I understand." She whispered, and Cat nodded back, leaning against the locker, she looked at Beck who seemed nervous, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come.

"Can we talk?" He asked her, and she nodded, getting off the lockers, she followed him just down the hall as Tori and Jade began to talk to each other.

"Okay, what do you want to talk about?"

"You coming to see Bentley." He said, and she looked away for a moment.

"I think…it should be when I'm ready." She said, "You know, so I don't act strange around him or anything."

"I agree with that." He said, looking at her once she'd turned her head back towards him. "And just so you know, he keeps asking about you."

She laughed, "Oh, I bet. He doesn't even know me."

"He knows you enough." He responded and it was comfortably silent, before Cat spoke up again.

"Are you going to tell Jade?" He looked at her, confused, and she rolled her eyes. "I mean that Bentley's my son, you loony!"

"Uh, well… not yet." He said, "I'm gonna wait until the time is right."

"You can't keep hiding it from her forever." She said, "It's going to bite you in the ass soon or later."

"I know." He said leaning against the lockers, he sighed, "I know."

"You know, this was a great idea." Robbie said, taking a bite of his frozen yogurt as Cat nodded existing the frozen yogurt shop, they found a seat just outside, and began to talk. Robbie was actually surprised she wanted to talk as she hadn't spoken to him much since returning, and that afternoon, when he'd gotten the text that she wanted to talk to him, he was more than happy to say yes.

"What can I say? I love frozen yogurt!" Cat said and he laughed.

"Oh trust me, I know."

She stared at him for a moment, the wind blowing through her hair, it made him smile, that even though, with all she'd been through, she was still as beautiful as ever to him… and it killed him knowing he could never have her. He couldn't then, and he definitely couldn't now.

"So, what'd you wanted to talk about?" He asked her, taking a bit of his ice cream. She looked away for a moment, just staring at the kids playing next to her, remembering what it was like to be that young, and that carefree.

"I don't know." She finally admitted turning back to him. She stared at her ice cream, for a moment. "I…I just want to know," She finally said looking up. "How do you feel about me, you know being back and all?"

He narrowed his eyes and leaned back, taking in her question. "I mean… it was sure a surprise to me, as you'd been gone for two years. But I'm sure you know that since it was a surprise to everyone, but honestly? I have no problem with it." He shrugged. "What's there to be pissed off about?"

She was silent again, but instead of it lasting a while, she just shook her head. "I don't know, I mean, I just… feel bad."

"For what?"

"That…I came back you know? After two years… I mean, I feel like I ruined things for Beck and that's the _last _thing I want to do for him. He seems so happy with her and I don't want to ruin that."

"You wouldn't." Robbie said, "I'm sure he knows that."

Cat sighed again, "I wouldn't be so sure about that."

**SPRING BREAK – EIGHTH GRADE **

"Okay, so we should be meeting Noah and Wilder here in about five minutes." Beck told Cat, who nodded in return. He put his arm around her, and held her close to him kissing the top of her head. "They're bringing they're girlfriends."

"That's fine." She said, looking up at him, "I mean why shouldn't they? You did." She then began to breathe heavily, suddenly feeling like she was going to be sick. What was going on? She was fine just five minutes ago. She swallowed hard, forcing whatever was coming up to go back down—for the time being anyway.

Noah and Wilder walked up to them, Noah's girlfriend, Claire and Wilder's girlfriend, Lilly with them. They hugged Beck, and then moved on to Cat, who stiffly and slowly hugged them back. She _really _felt like she was going to be sick and knew it was only a few seconds before she actually would be and everyone would see her breakfast on the concrete.

Wilder pulled back from the hug and looked at her worriedly. "Court—are you okay?"

"I—I'm fine." Cat nodded, smiling best she could as she swallowed hard again. _Shit_. All the partying she'd been doing lately was catching up with her. And Beck _still _didn't know, as she sometimes went to parties without him—not mentioning them at all when they spoke.

Ash and Bianca sure got a kick out of that one.

"You don't look too well." Lilly observed, running her fingers through her blonde hair. "Are you sure you're okay?"

Cat nodded as Beck looked at her, a concerned look on his face. Her face looked paler, and she had clamped her mouth shut, now unable to speak without whatever was coming up, ending up in front of them all.

"Cat, we should get you to a bathroom." Beck told her, "before you explode."

Under any other circumstances, she would've actually thought that was _cool_, but she knew at that moment, it wasn't going to be too cool.

"Beck." She managed to say, tears coming to her eyes, and then she wondered _where the hell her tears had come from_.

(_You're such an idiot! See what too much partying… or sex does to you?). _

She ignored the voices and let Beck lead her away from their friends. She managed to take a deep breath, and calmed down enough to let Beck know she was feeling better.

"Are you sure?" She nodded, the nausea had just _passed_. Weird.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She whispered and he kissed her forehead.

"Alright, let's go get a seat in the café," He said, taking her hand in his, he led her to the table where all their friends were sitting, and pulled the chair out. She smiled at the his gentlemanly gesture and took a seat.

Only to feel like she was going to be sick again.

The food from the table next to them hit her—and hit her _hard_. She looked around, before standing up. "Excuse me." She said, and then put her hand over her mouth, quickly running to the bathroom as it had become _too much_.

She didn't notice how concerned and worried Beck was, as she had run too fast for him to catch up with her. She ignored the disgusted look of other teenagers and parents in the bathroom and quickly cut in front of someone to get to a stall. There had been a line, and she _knew _that if she waited, it would be all over, and _she _wouldn't be the only one to lose her breakfast—or lunch.

She immediately closed the stall door, and got on her knees in front of the toilet, _finally_ letting it all out. She continued to puke for a few minutes hearing the sound of disgust coming from everyone else in the girl's restroom. She ignored it though and kept puking until she felt she was completely done.

Once she was, she leaned against the stall wall and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath, _immediately_ feeling a lot better, and flushed the toilet. She grabbed some toilet paper and wiped her mouth running her fingers through her hair with her free hand.

She was surprised to find out she was hungry after a few minutes, her stomach growling.

Slowly, she got up and walked out of the bathroom, washing her hands, and her mouth, she quickly dried up and ignored the looks of others as she walked out of the restroom, only to find Beck was leaning against the wall, his hands in his pockets. He looked up at her, and immediately rushed to her.

"Are you okay?" He immediately asked her, and she nodded. "That… that wasn't self inflicted was it?" He asked and she gave him a look, shaking her head. He sighed, relieved and hugged her. "Okay." He whispered. "How do you feel right now? Do you want to go home and rest?"

Even though her back hurt, she shook her head. "Actually, I'm hungry. Like, really hungry."

He looked at her surprised. "Really? You just puked, are you sure eating is smart?"

She just rolled her eyes and nodded, taking his hand, leading him away from the restroom, "Yes, and we came here to eat, so we should." She said, her stomach growling again, the nausea disappearing almost instantly.

He looked at her strangely before nodding his head. "Alright then, whatever the little woman wants, she gets."

She giggled, and was going to kiss him when she suddenly pulled away. He looked at her hurt, before she explained herself. "You want to kiss me while I'm all pukey?" And then he _immediately_ understood.

"Hell no." He said and she laughed hugging him from the side, they walked back to their friends.

"You alright, shorty?" Noah asked and she nodded.

"I feel much better!" She grinned and picked up the menu. "I don't know what I want though! So hungry!"

"I'm sorry, what?" Claire blurted, "You just threw up, and now you're hungry?"

She nodded, "Yeah. But I don't know what's best to eat…I think chicken tenders is what's best…with fries, and ketchup, and then ice cream afterwards! With fudge…" She trailed off when everyone gave her strange looks. "What?"

"Court—I don't think eating all that is the best decision." Noah said, "I mean, you're… not feeling well?"

She shook her head, "I'm fine." And even though it was strange, it was true. She felt totally, and completely a hundred percent fine… besides the embarrassment of what had just happened, she was okay.

"Wait!" Lilly suddenly cried, and they all looked at her. "Okay, I know we're only like fourteen, well… most of us are," She said when Cat just blinked at her. "But uh, when was the last time… you know… _it _happened?"

"What do you mean it?" Cat asked, her eyes wide. "The last time Beck and I had sex?"

Wilder and Noah's eyes opened wide at what she'd said. They hadn't known Beck and Cat were that serious, at least not yet.

Beck just face palmed himself, hoping that they'd be able to keep that little tidbit to themselves, but it hadn't really worked out that way.

"No… you know…" Lilly trailed off as they all heard a beeping and Cat immediately reached into her pocket to pull out her pink slvr. She had a text from Bianca. Opening it, she read it quickly.

_Hey girl, are you down to party tonight? There's supposed to be like a HUGE one with college guys on spring break, and pretty much Ash says it's going to be a good time, you in? _

She ignored it, immediately pressing the end button before Beck could see—or read it.

"Who texted?"

"No one important." She quickly said, and then thought about what Lilly was talking about. What could she possibly be talking about as she didn't know a thing about her partying. She thought for a few moments, the waiter came to take their order, and everyone was saying what they wanted, when she got to her. Cat then froze as it _hit her_, what Lilly was saying. "Shit, shit, shit!" She repeated over and over, as the patient woman asked her what she wanted again. She looked up at her, "Uh, chicken tenders and fries please." She said somewhat robotic, causing Beck to look at her confused.

"And to drink?"

"Uhm…" She trailed off looking at Beck who just shrugged.

"I think you should get Sprite, it's best for your stomach right now." He said and she turned to him, pointing at her stomach.

"That's not what's best for it!"

"Cat! You just got sick! What the hell are you talking about?" Beck asked her, as the waitress just stood there.

"Excuse me, will you be having the Sprite?"

Cat nodded and then waved her off, the woman smiled kindly—despite being rudely ignored and walked away.

"Beck!" Cat's voice sounded distressed, as she pulled him up to come with her to a more private part of the café. "We have a problem." She said once they were outside in the back.

"What?"

"I haven't had my period since January." She said, and he looked at her.

"What?"

"I haven't had my—"

"I heard what you said!"

(_You idiot! Now he's mad at you!_)

She ignored the voices again and looked at him, "I think I might be…"

"No, no. You're not! You can't be!"

"Well guess what? Whether or not we want it to happen, it's happening!"

"Shit, shit, shit." He repeated running his fingers through his hair as he walked back and forth in front of her. "How did this happen?"

"Oh come on Beck! You were there! I might be crazy, but I do remember you and I together… when it… happened." She trailed off awkwardly, looking away, whispering the last of her words. "We are so screwed." She said leaning against the brick wall.

"Well, we have to be sure." Beck said, "You have to take a test, and if it's positive… we have to tell my mother and—"

"No." She said, her voice firm. "I refuse to tell my father _anything_."

"Well what are we supposed to do?" Beck demanded. "I got you pregnant! Possibly! And he has the right to know!"

"Keep your voice down!" She yelled back at him, ironically. She looked around somewhat paranoid, as she'd seen a shadow and someone approach them. They were able to see who it was a few minutes later, and groaned once they saw who it was.

Standing in front of them was, Patrice.

Fuck.

"Well, well, well…" She smirked, "From what I could hear…and so you know I was just casually walking here on my way into the café, Beck here has knocked up his extremely crazy girlfriend. How interesting." She narrowed her eyes, "You both should really learn to keep your voices down."

"Patrice, this was a private conversation." Beck said, "Why the hell were you stalking us?"

"I wasn't." She said, "I was—"

"THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO GO INTO THE DAMN CAFÉ!" Cat yelled at her, walking up to her, "YOU ARE SUCH A NOSY, CREEPY BITCH!"

"Cat! Cat! Calm down!" Beck told her, grabbing her shoulders and pulling her from ripping out the other girl's hair.

"Ugh! Fuck!" Cat stomped the ground, spinning around to face him. "Now she's going to tell the whole damn school!"

Beck looked at Patrice. "You better not," He threatened.

"Better not what?" Patrice asked innocently, "Tell the whole school you're with child? Why on earth would I do that?"

"Because you're a bitch!" Cat shouted. "You've been after Beck since—" She stopped speaking as a realization hit her. "Wait, now you _really_ can't have him anymore." She smirked at the other girl. "And that must _kill you_."

"Actually, I could care less." She said, "He cares about you.. fine. You're just crazy, and slutty anyway."

"Unlike you?" Cat scoffed, surprising Beck by not yelling at her. "You hook up with a new guy like every week! At least I _stayed_ with the same guy for almost three years!"

"And look where it's gotten you—pregnant. God, Cat, sometimes you are so niave and dumb it's almost laughable."

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" Cat yelled, defensively and Beck rubbed his eyes, already annoyed and fed up with this girl drama.

"Okay! You know what? Patrice, you shut the fuck up. And Cat, come with me." He said, pulling her away before Patrice could say another word.

They got back to their friends, only to see their food was there—Beck suddenly didn't feel hungry, and much to his surprise, the normally picky, not much of an eater, Cat _was_. Which wasn't too much of a surprise, as if she was pregnant, then he figured that would've been normal right?

They finished their food, and then quickly left, saying some sort of quick apology to their friends, who instead of getting pissed off, seemed to understand they were in a rush to get somewhere.

They walked into Sinclair Pharmacy, quickly walking to the back of the store where they hoped the tests would be. They quickly got one, and walked up to the cashier, who gave them a _very_ disgusted look.

"What?" Cat snapped. "Get over it."

The woman then quickly bagged their purchase—Beck quickly paying her—and rushed out.

Now they were in Cat's bedroom, safe as no one was home. She sat on the bed staring at the test for a moment. "I can't do this." She said, pushing it aside.

"You can't just ignore this!" Beck told her, "You _have_ to take it."

Cat thought of all the partying she'd done in the past two months. She already knew that if there _was in fact_ a baby inside of her, it would already end up fucked up when it was born.

"I—I can't." She said, pushing it away. "I don't want to."

"I don't give a shit if you don't want to, Cat!" Beck yelled at her, and she jumped back, shocked as he had _never _cursed at her before, not even when they got into big fights. "We did something and now we have to pay the price for it. Now, please, take the damn test!"

Cat's eyes watered and without a word, she snatched it from the bed and stormed past him to the bathroom. She did what she had to do, and then put it beside her desk, waiting for the results—which the box said took about three minutes.

Once the timer on her phone went off, she walked back into the bathroom, and grabbed the test, Beck walked in behind her as she gasped and let it drop to the ground, he looked at her as she fell to the ground, and held her head in her hands for a moment, before staring down at her feet, tears falling from her eyes. He knelt down beside her and picked up the test, his eyes widened for a second, before he began to feel a bit of panic.

It was positive.

The damn test came out _positive_.

**PRESENT DAY **

"Mom! Hey! I'm home!" Beck called, as he stepped inside the house. He walked in, setting his keys by the door, when Bentley ran towards him. He picked him up and spun him around. "How are you kid?" He asked, and didn't receive a response from him almost immediately, which worried him. "Bentley?" He said, and the boy looked at him.

"Hey, daddy!" He said and then hugged him, wrapping his small arms around Beck's neck.

"Bentley." He said, "Can you hear me?"

"Kinda…" He admitted. "Why?"

He looked at the soon-to-be four year old, concerned, and put him down on the ground as his mother walked in, giving her son a smile.

"How was your day sweetie?" She asked him.

"It was fine." He said, sounding somewhat distracted, as he watched Bentley run to the other room to play with his toys. "Have you noticed something a bit different about Bentley?" He asked her. "For the past few days… it's been like he has trouble hearing me when I talk to him."

His mother nodded, "Yeah, and he hasn't been speaking too much either."

"Yeah…" Beck said, "Do you have any idea of what's going on?"

His mother shook his head, "unfortunately I don't. But I think you should schedule an appointment with the pediatrician about this before you completely worry yourself, alright?" Beck nodded. "Okay, very good. Now, I've been meaning to ask you something… have you seen or heard from Cat recently?"

Beck immediately wondered where the hell that had come from. "Uh, yeah, she's been back in school for about a week now, why?"

"Just curious, you haven't heard from her in two years… and I just wondered about her. I thought of her today."

His mother was sweet, she really was. "Well, yeah. Don't worry. She'll come by soon. She uh, isn't exactly ready to see Bentley yet."

"Understandable." She said, "But I think the sooner she sees him the better."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because, he's her son. A mother can't go too long with out seeing her son." She said and then began to walk into the kitchen, "You think about that for a moment."

And he did. She was right (and as much as he hated to admit it) she had made sense. But before he did anything, he wanted to talk to Jade about it first.

_After _he scheduled an appointment with the pediatrician.

Cat walked lazily down the street. She had decided to walk to school that day—as it wasn't too far of a walk—and felt like taking her time. She had her headphones in, and was listening to a nice ballad, when the heel of her stiletto accidently hit a crack in the concrete. She then felt herself fall to the ground, the contents of her oversized bag spilling onto the grass beside her. She quickly picked everything up, making sure she left nothing behind and continued on her way, walking slowly as her ankle now began to bother her.

She limped all the way home, and unlocked the front door to her family's mansion, taking her time she closed the door quickly and took off her stilettos. She limped into the kitchen, catching herself when she almost fell on the island, and then somehow managed to get a bag of ice, and sat down on one of the bar stools, resting her ankle on the other one, placing the bag of ice on her now swollen ankle.

As she did that, she began to realize her wrist hurt as well—even more than her ankle did, but ignored it as the door opened, and her stepmother walked in, giving her a look of disgust.

"What on earth did you do to yourself?"

Cat shrugged, "I tripped walking home, no big deal."

"It looks like a tomato! It's disgusting!" Her stepmother cried immaturely and Cat rolled her eyes.

"Then don't look at it genius." Cat snapped, she adjusted the ice pack, pain shooting through her wrist as she did. She winced, visibly and her stepmother sighed annoyed.

"What is with you and the dramatics?" She asked her. "All you've been since you've returned is a nuisance."

"Oh really?" Cat said, her eyes getting dark as she looked at her pissed off. "All you've been since I've returned is a bitch!"

Her stepmother then gasped. "How dare you!"

"Tough." Cat shot back, "Can't take it can you?"

"I will not be talked to that way from a—a—child!"

Cat narrowed her eyes, "Really? A child? Are you forgetting that I _have _a child?"

"Oh, that's right." Her stepmother mused, a smirk on her lips, tapping her foot, which she knew bothered the hell out of Cat, especially when it was done in a condescending way. "You do. Have you gone to visit him yet?"

"No." Cat snapped.

"And why not?"

"Because Beck and I decided it was best to wait until I was ready to, besides what do you care?"

"Oh. Yes, right." Cat heard a humorless laugh and looked up from adjusting the bag once more. "Beck Oliver, the boy you _were _madly in love with a few years ago. Right, the boy who _was_ madly in love with you as well…" She leaned in closer, her face inches from the younger girl. "And now he's found somebody new."

"I'm aware." Cat snapped pulling her head back, not liking the closeness. "I've known since the first day I got back… I didn't expect anything less."

"What a replacement?" Her stepmother scoffed. "Yes, well, replace you in his and your son's life, _he did_." She said, and Cat just continued to glare at her not speaking. "You know, his _fiancé_ is very sweet, you know, a total charmer."

"Wait, how did you know she was his fiancé?" Cat asked her.

"Well." Her stepmother smirked again, "Aren't we just a bit behind? Beck's fiancé—is my _daughter_."

"What?" Cat blurted. "Jade's _your _daughter? As in my—"

"Stepsister, yes." She sneered at her. "And now you have no competition when it comes to who's the better child now, do you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cat asked quietly.

"Well, that she's no trouble at all—never has been as I don't speak to her too often, but you on the other hand, are just a load of trouble. That's all you are, a nuisance, a crazy, deranged, nuisance."

"I'm not crazy!" Cat yelled. "And even if I was, what's it to you? You don't give a shit about me anyway. Much less your own daughter."

"Yes, well. I married you father didn't I? And look how well that turned out. He doesn't care much for you either."

"And all you are is after his damn money." Cat snapped. "I know you are, you have been for years."

"Well, look who got the last laugh. You got sent away for two years, and I stayed here. Who's more important to him do you think?"

Cat just glared at her, half pissed off and half hurt, shaking her head. "Go to hell. I hate you." She then got up, grabbed her things and limped to the stairs, as her stepmother just continued to glare at her in return. She went up to her bedroom, and grabbed her pills. At least this time, she was able to _remember_ to take them, and she did. Then after, she lay on her bed, thinking about all that had happened to her in the past few years.

Under normal circumstances—well, what would happen if she hadn't gone to treatment—she'd go straight for the drugs. But now that that wasn't an option anymore, she decided to just text Robbie.

_Robbie._

A few seconds later, she got a response.

_Sup, Cat?_

_I need you to pick me up. I don't want to be at home right now or I'll just start thinking too much—and yeah. Can you just come pick me up?_

_Are you alright? Do you need me to bring you anything when I do? Should I call Beck?_

She thought for a moment before instantly responding.

_No. Just you. Take me to "our special" place… I haven't been there in years and would like to go back. Please?_

It was about two minutes before she got the response back.

_On my way_.

And she lay on her bed staring up at the ceiling staring at nothing, and feeling a bit better after having taken her medication.

About twenty minutes past, before she got the text.

_I'm outside_.

It read, and she quickly stood up, grabbing more comfortable shoes, she put them on—gently and walked out of her bedroom, slamming the door she saw her father at the foot of the stairs. She said nothing, just gave him a disgusted look and walked out the front door, slamming the door behind her.

She then got into Robbie's car, buckling her seatbelt as he drove off.

"Everything okay?" He asked her.

She just stared into nothing for a minute, before nodding her head. The lie pouring out of her mouth so easily.

"Sure, everything's just fine." She whispered.

_It was only just a dream… _

_Okay, I was gonna put in some Jade/Beck cuteness in this one, but it didn't end up working out, and I thought it'd be kinda awkward, especially with the Cat/Beck moments in the flashbacks. So next one, will have more Beck/Jade! I promise. Hehehe. _

_Also, poor Cat :/ the way she was treated by her stepmother… is just so awful. And Bentley! What's going on with him? Well… all be revealed soon! _

_Also, as a side note, I based her figuring out she was pregnant on personal experience… this happened to me just a month ago, so yeah. _

_And don't worry, I'm old enough._

_Anyway, I apologize for this taking so long. I've just been super busy lately. _

_Please, read and review! Tell me what you think other than "nice chapter, more please" that's just… frustrating. I'd like constructive critiscm please! But nothing too harsh._

_Also, I have a twitter! Yeah it's fckyeahari. Feel free to follow & I'll follow back! _

_Alright, love you guys! Mwuah! :) _


	6. Chapter 6

_Okay, this kinda skips ahead a bit, as I wanted to have some Beck/Jade in this story, so yeah. This is how they met, how they got together, all that. _

_With a bit of Cat drama at the end of course. _

Jade looked at Beck, who was nervously shaking his leg, while Bentley played with the toys in front of him. She was holding Beck's hand, and was rubbing it comfortingly, when he suddenly got up, and bent down to his son's level. He picked up on of the trucks he was playing with, and smiled at him, he moved the truck back, and then let it go suddenly, both of them watching as it took off towards Bentley's leg, who in turn giggled his adorable little boy giggle.

Jade couldn't help but smile at that.

When Beck had asked her if she would go to with him to the pediatrician, she didn't think twice before saying yes, although after she did, she felt kind of strange that he'd asked her to go, instead of Bentley's mother.

After all, wasn't he Cat's son too?

But then she realized that Cat hadn't gone to visit him in the almost month and a half she'd been back. Why on earth wouldn't she go see her son? Ready or not?

It bugged her, but she knew at the same time it wasn't her place to say anything. As much as she wanted to, she knew she couldn't.

"Bentley Valentine-Oliver?" Jade looked up to see a nurse was standing at the doorway, a clipboard in her hand. She smiled warmly at them as Beck looked up. "That's a very interesting name." She said.

"Yeah, well, his mother wanted him to have her last name as well." Beck said, and she looked at Jade.

"Well, I think that's a very good thing."

"Oh. Uhm, I'm not his mother," Jade told her, somewhat awkwardly. "I'm uhm, his father's fiancé."

"Oh, oh! I'm so sorry." She said, "I'm new here, so I apologize for the confusion."

"It's alright." Jade shrugged, and Beck stood up, taking Bentley's hand, as Jade got up and followed them down the hall and to a room.

"Alright, what seems to be the problem?" The nurse asked

"Uh, well. He's been having some trouble hearing me when I speak to him." Beck said, "I have to repeat his name a few times before he finally responds. Or I have to wave at him. And he hasn't been speaking too much either. He's nearly four years old, shouldn't he be almost taking normally now?"

"Oh, well, yes. Normally by three they are talking much more." She said, in a tone neither Jade or Beck could recognize at all. "Uhm, well. We'll have to run some tests, alright? I'll be back with the doctor in a moment." They nodded and she was gone, as Bentley looked around his eyes wide, and went to his father, his body visibly shaking.

"What's wrong, Ben?" Beck asked him, picking him up to sit on his lap. He didn't answer him, just shook his head, hiding it in Beck's chest. And that's when Beck realized yet _another_ similarity in between the little boy and Cat.

Cat was scared to death of doctors, to the point where she when she'd gotten pregnant, she'd refused to see a doctor for the first month and a half… until his mother basically forced her to go. And that's exactly what was wrong with Bentley, he figured, that he was scared of the doctor.

In a way, it was kind of cute. But in another, it made him very concerned. But before he could tell Jade anything, the doctor came in, a smile on her face.

"Hello, what can I do for you?"

"You mean the nurse didn't tell you?" Jade asked her and she shook her head.

"Not much," She said, "So, what brings you guys here today?" She looked at Bentley who was still hiding, and smiled at him. "You don't have to hide, I'm here to help you, not hurt you."

He still hid in Beck's chest, shaking his head.

"Alright, well, I'm sure he'll warm up to me eventually. Is everything alright with him?"

Beck shrugged, looking at Jade and then back at the doctor. "We're…not sure. He's been having trouble hearing me when I talk to him, and hasn't been speaking all that much. Usually he uses gestures to get what he wants, but when my mother, Jade, or I tell him to speak he just shakes his head, until he finally gets what he wants."

The doctor wrote a few things on her clipboard and then nodded, looking up at them. "Alright, well, we're gonna run some tests on him, and see what's going on, okay?" Beck nodded. "Bentley," She said gently. "We need to do some tests on you to make you feel better, okay? We're gonna figure out what's wrong with you and fix it, sound good?"

Bentley turned slowly to looked at her, clinging to his father. He looked at her, his eyes wide, his lower lip trembling. "It's okay, sweetie. Okay? You have no reason to be scared, I won't hurt you." She held out her hand, and he just stared at her, before looking up at his father.

"It's okay, Ben. She won't hurt you. I promise." He told him, and he looked at the doctor again, he hid his head, and then Beck heard him start to cry.

Jade looked at Beck, and leaned down to Bentley. "Do you want me to go with you?" She held her hand out to him, and he took it, holding it as she pulled him from his father, and held him on her lap. "Alright well, I guess he won't go anywhere without us, so will you do the tests here?"

The doctor nodded, "Of course," She said. "It's normal for him to feel scared, so I wouldn't worry too much about that. I'm sure he'll outgrow that fear as he gets older."

"I… don't think so." Beck said. "His mother is pretty much deathly afraid of doctors, so it might just be a family trait or something."

The doctor warmly smiled at them again and got up to get what she needed to do the tests. "Alright, Bentley, I'm gong to do some tests on you. Your father is right there, and he's not leaving, as well as Jade. She'll be right here too, okay?" He just blankly stared at her so she moved one of her instruments closer to him, when he just nodded his head.

"Okay." He whispered.

Cat meanwhile, was pacing back and forth in her bedroom, wondering where the hell Jade was. She'd tried calling her multiple times, but it went straight to voicemail, her texts, also going unanswered. She angrily threw her phone on her bed, and sat down, her hand going to head, when she noticed something, and moved her hands away to look at it.

She saw the _scars_, the same scars that had been there since she was twelve years old. She gently touched them, and looked at them, studying them for a moment, and flashing back to when she first did it.

She gasped, and then realized that she _actually wanted to do it again_. For now reason, just that she was upset.

She was upset that her father allowed his stupid wife to talk to her the way she did, day after day after day. Reminding her of her son, each time, and how Beck had replaced her in his life with Jade—the daughter she _never _even spoke to.

She stared at the wall for a moment, "_Keep my eyes ahead_," She whispered. "_I'm gonna drive_." And with that, she got up, grabbed her keys, and left the room.

And just as she left the room, her phone began to ring, Jade's name flashing on the screen over and over until it died a few minutes later.

It was now eleven at night, and Jade was getting worried. Cat wasn't answering her phone, which she wasn't sure was like her or not. Beck had told her she was sometimes forgetful when they were younger and would leave the phone behind, but she figured now that she was back and much older; she wouldn't do careless things like that anymore. Guess she was wrong.

"Where the hell is she?" Jade asked Beck, "I've been trying to reach her for hours."

"Well, what's going on?"

"It's going straight to voicemail. Why would she turn it off?" Jade asked, running her fingers through her hair and throwing her phone on his bed.

He shrugged. "Who knows? She probably went to Robbie's or something and left her phone behind. It's no big deal. We'll see her tomorrow at school anyway."

Jade nodded, "Okay." She said, as Beck grabbed her hands, and looked at her. "Okay, you're right, I shouldn't worry about her."

And yet, for some reason she still was.. _very _worried for her mentally sick friend.

"So, what do you want to do now?" She whispered, running her fingers through his hair as he leaned forward and kissed her lips softly, running his fingers across her cheek, as he pulled her closer with his other hand, deepening the kiss.

She broke it and leaned her forehead against his, "Are you okay?" She asked him, "You know, with everything that went on today… are you _okay_?"

He didn't answer her, just kissed her again, deeper and harder than the last one. In the two years Jade had dated him, she knew that when he got like that, it meant he was trying to _forget_. As in whatever was bothering him, he didn't want to think about and would kiss her to try and make that memory go away.

"Beck." She muttered against his lips, and he shook her head, kissing her again. "No, wait, Beck." She said, and he sighed, breaking it, and staring at her. "We need to talk about this!"

"I don't want to." He said, and then moved away from her, laying on his bed he stared up at the ceiling. "It's too painful."

"What is?" She asked him.

He didn't want to tell her that he was worried to death about Cat. Since he knew that when she got like this, she was usually in trouble. Even though he hadn't seen or talked to her in two years, there was still a small, _very_ small part of him that still loved her. But in more of a friend way, he was still constantly worried for his best friend who was known for these type of spontaneous things. And with her past, it wasn't a good thing, _at all_.

"I'm just… worried for Bentley." He said, sitting up. "I mean, we won't know the results of the tests for a couple weeks, but it's pretty obvious what's going on. He can't hear, he doesn't speak…" He trailed off, his head in his hands. "I mean that's hard for a father to hear."

"I know, it is." She said, sitting next to him and rubbing his back, "But he was born to a very young mother who had serious problems, it's more likely to happen than if you were old enough and had him. He'll be okay, Beck. It's not like he's going to die or anything. He'll still live his life, just as you and Cat would've wanted him to."

"I know that, I'm just—I don't know." He said, giving up and laying back down as Jade lay her head on his chest. He stared at the ceiling again silently, and rubbed her arm, as a smile came on his face. "Do you remember when we first met?"

She laughed quietly, "How could I forget?"

"Yeah, you didn't like me too much at first… until I brought you home one day to work on Sikowitz's assignment."

"I know." She said, and looked up at him, kissing him gently, "the best day of my life."

**HOLLYWOOD ARTS HIGH SCHOOL – SOPHOMORE YEAR **

Beck sighed, running his fingers through his hair as he walked through the doors of his school, walking slowly to his locker. Once he got there, he bent down and opened it, taking out what he needed and slamming it closed. He then stood up and leaned against the lockers, tears threatening to spill from his eyes, but he blinked them away as soon as he saw his friends walking towards him.

"Beck." He heard Tori say gently, "Are you okay?"

"Do I look okay?" He snapped at her, and she looked at him, hurt. "I'm sorry. I'm just…" He trailed off, and shook his head as Andre put his hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, man. Everything will be okay."

"No. No, it won't." Beck said, "Cat's gone, and has been for the past two months, and I'm a single father with a two year old son. It doesn't get much harder than it is now."

"Beck." Andre said, and he looked at him. "It's okay to cry."

He shook his head, "Not gonna."

"Why not?" Tori asked quietly. "Afraid of your emotions?"

"No." He said, "I just don't want to seem weak."

"It doesn't make you weak!" Tori said, "It makes you _human_. If you don't cry you'll just walk around like a nazi and that's not cool. Everyone at this school is worried about you because you've been all out of sorts since Cat left, which is normal, but come on. She's not dead. She's just in treatment for problems that are _very real_, whether or not you want to admit it." She paused for a moment, letting her words sink in. "I'm not saying this to be a bitch, I'm just saying this as your friend." She finished quietly. "I don't want to see you so sad anymore."

It was quiet for a moment, Tori thinking Beck was really mad at her, when he pulled her in for a hug and held her close to him. "Thanks, Tori." He whispered and she nodded as the bell rang and they broke apart.

"Anytime, Beck." She said quietly and then the friends walked to their first class with Sikowitz.

They sat in their seats, as their crazy teacher came in through the window—as usual. A girl with light brown hair, with pink and blue streaks running through it, hurried into the classroom just as the bell rang. She handed her schedule to the teacher, seeming a bit out of breath.

"I'm so sorry, I'm late!" the girl said, "I uh, got lost?"

"You did, did you?" Sikowitz said, staring her down. The girl just stood there, her eyebrow going up as he continued to do this. Finally he stopped, "Alright…" He looked at the name, "Jadelyn?"

"Jade." She snapped back.

"Right, Jade, well… please take a seat…" He turned and waved absently mindedly, "next to Elvis or whomever you want."

She turned around, and Beck looked at her, they kept eye contact until she took the seat next to him, and turned to talk to him. "So, I'm assuming you're Elvis?"

"Yeah, that's… what he calls me."

"Cool." She said, "Keep your foot on your side, and I'll keep mine on my side, got it?"

He just nodded as Tori looked at her, "You know just because you're the new girl doesn't make you the boss of everything."

"Oh, shut up." She said, and crossed her arms over her chest, "It's not like I want to be here."

"Why not?" Robbie asked as he leaned forward in his seat next to Andre. "This is the best school in Hollywood, hard as hell to get into."

"Yeah, well, tell that to my—" She looked at them, and realized they were all looking at her, "Uh, forget it. Just pay attention to whatever the psycho teacher is saying."

Later that day, at lunch, Beck and Andre were talking about how well they were doing in their Call Of Duty games, when he stopped and saw the new girl—Jade sitting by herself and playing with her food.

"Hey, Andre." Beck said, putting his hand on his shoulder. "I'll uh, catch up with you later, okay?"

Andre looked at Beck, and then noticed he was looking at Jade. "Yeah, sure man." He said, and Beck walked towards Jade. He stood at the table, and looked at her.

"So, why are you sitting by yourself?"

She shrugged, "Why do you care?" She asked, taking a book from her backpack and opening it, ignoring him as she started to read it. After a few minutes she looked up, "Why are you still here?"

"Because," Beck said, "I want to be your friend."

"Well, I don't want any damn friends, so just… go away." She said, going back to reading her book and taking a sip of her drink.

"What is your problem?" Beck asked her, and when she didn't answer him, he put his hand on the book, forcing it down, and her to look at him. "Really. Tell me."

"You wouldn't care about my dumb problems." She said. "You're Mr. Perfect, aren't you?"

"What gave that away?"

"Just a feeling I had." She said, "Besides, a pretty boy like you should be sitting with his girlfriend or something during lunch period."

Beck rolled his eyes, "Well," He said, taking a seat in front of her, "Lucky for you, I'm single."

"Hah!" Jade said, "I find that _so _hard to believe."

"Well," He looked down uncomfortably, "Believe it." He said quietly.

She stared at him for a moment, _finally _closing her book, "So, you have a story too? Let's hear it."

"I'd really rather not." He said, then he looked at her, "But you, you feel free to tell me whatever it is you want."

She sighed, "My dad forced me to move here." She said, "See? So easy."

"Yeah, that's not a story, that's a sentence." Beck said, and she rolled her eyes.

"What more do you want to know?"

"Tell me about you." He said, as he unwrapped his burrito. "Like what your interests are and all that."

"Why do you care so much?" Jade asked quietly.

Beck was quiet for a moment before he shrugged, "Because I'm sick of just moping around. I think if I just talk to people… thinks will get better. Hopefully."

"Okay, class!" Sikowitz announced a week later. "I am going to pair you up with a partner, you are two write a play, and act them out, due this Friday!" He clapped his hands, and then turned around and grabbed a sheet of paper. "I have paired you off. Alright first, Tori with Robbie, Andre with Samantha, Beck with Jade…"

Beck looked up at her, and she looked at him. He waved at her, and she rolled her eyes. "Okay, so, we'll just go to your house and do this, right?" She leaned toward him, whispering and he froze.

"Uh…"

"What?" She asked innocently, "Is that a problem?"

He sighed, figuring it was a good time as any to just be up front with her about Bentley. "No, that's not a problem at all."

"Okay." She said, "After school today. We only have like three days to do it."

He nodded, "Sounds good." She nodded and leaned back, listening to what Sikowitz was saying. He sighed and leaned back looking at Tori, who just looked at him. He shrugged, and then turned his attention back to Sikowitz.

It was going to be a long day.

"Alright, so this is where I live!" Beck said as he opened the front door to his house.

Jade walked in, looking around. "Yeah, it's really nice."

"Thank you…I think." She just laughed and walked in further, noticing there were toys on the ground. He quickly picked them up.

"You have a little brother or sister?" She asked him and he rubbed the back of his head, self-consciously.

"Actually, no. I have a—"

"Beck! I'm so happy to see you're back!" He turned to see his mother speaking as they walked into the kitchen, she had Bentley in her arms and was rocking the sleepy little boy up and down. He mentally groaned, and the quickly picked him up, taking him from her. "I have to run to a meeting, but will you put Bentley to sleep?"

He nodded, "yeah, mom sure."

"Okay." And then she looked at Jade, "Well, hello. And who might this be?"

"What? Oh, yeah. This is Jade, she's my partner for an assignment we're working on in Sikowitz's class. She's really cool." He said, and then laughed at Jade's expression.

"Yeah, I'm Jade." She said, "it's a pleasure meeting you."

Beck's mother smiled, happy that her son was more or less moving on from his depression regarding Cat. "It's a pleasure to meet you as well. You're welcome here anytime."

"Thank you." Jade smiled at her, and then she announced that she had to leave and that she'd be home to cook dinner later.

Once she left, Jade turned to Beck.

"Sorry about her, she's kinda… pushy?" He laughed and she shook her head, a smile on her face, already, surprisingly comfortable with him.

"It's alright." She said, and looked at Bentley. "He's so cute. I normally don't like kids—like at all, but, for some reason, I'm just… drawn to him. He looks just like you, well with your nose, and his eyes… oh my god, they're beautiful."

"Yeah…" He said, "They're amazing, I tell him that everyday."

"So," She said, "Is he your brother?"

Beck paused for a minute, deciding it was best to be honest with her, "No. He's my son."

She was quiet for a moment, before nodding. "Well, I see how he can be." She finally said, and then played with his fingers.

"You aren't…gonna judge me for that?"

She looked at him, "I've known you for a week, now. Besides, I'm not the judging type. People do this, and it's not always right, but I have to give you a lot of credit for sticking by him. But I do have a question."

"Yeah?"

"What happened to his mother?" She asked quietly.

"She's…she had to leave for a while, for personal reasons. But I know that once she's done with what she needs to do, she'll come back." He said, choosing his words carefully. "She loves him to death and just wants to do what's best for him."

"You really believe that?"

"No. I know it." He said, and then looked at the sleeping boy. "Well, I'm going to put him to bed. Follow me to my room and we'll work on the project."

She nodded her head, and picked up her bag and his, following him up the stairs and into Bentley's room where he lay him down, and then to his room, where she sat on his bed.

"So…what should we right about?" She asked him.

He shrugged, "I don't know." He thought for a moment, "How about two teenagers—who are a couple, going through problems, you know like us, and how they react to _finally _letting each other in."

"But why would they be a couple? Shouldn't they be best friends first, and then at the end become a couple?" She asked the question, looking at him so innocently. He tensed up at the familiarity of the story, but didn't back down.

"Yeah, that would be—that would be perfect." He whispered, grabbing his laptop. He turned on some music, and Jade took out her notebook.

She made a face at the first song, "You like Nickelback?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"They're a Canadian band." She said, "I mean their music rocks, don't get me wrong, I'm just—"

"You're not making much sense." He said, "Besides, I'm Canadian, and so is my son."

"Ooh, well this is awkward." Jade said, and Beck couldn't help but laugh as she lay on her stomach and got comfortable, the pencil in her hand, the notebook in front of her.

"It's okay. You're allowed to have an opinion."

"Hm, do you like… Imogen Heap?" She asked, and he looked at her.

"Yeah, my-Bentley's mother she _loved_ Imogen Heap."

"You know, Beck. It's okay to say ex. There's nothing wrong with that." She said, and Beck just stared at her.

It was hard to say the word, 'ex'. It killed him everytime he even thought of it.

"Yeah, well…you know." He muttered and then picked an Imogen Heap song, playing it as they got busy with their assignment.

"Wow!" Jade said, "This is amazing! I love it!"

"Yeah I know." He said, "here, let's run through it, make sure we like it."

"Okay." She said, and they did for another hour, until they got to the end, which was the most important part.

"Okay, so I go, _you don't get it! And you never will! I care about you!_"

"_Oh yeah? Well if you cared so much about me why are you pushing me to talk to you?_"

"_Because you won't let me in!_"

"_Says the girl who won't do it either. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense!_" He yelled back at her, and she shoved him before continuing, trying to stay in character.

"_I just care about you okay?_" She said, looking straight into his eyes. "_Probably more than I should, but yeah._"

They moved closer, and Beck put her hand on her cheek. "Can I try something?" He asked her, breaking character, but still looking straight into her eyes.

Jade on the other hand was nervous. Even though she had just known him for a week, she knew she liked him. He was… her first friend at Hollywood Arts, and the only person there who gave a damn. How could she not like him? She searched his eyes for a moment, and then nodded, "Yeah." She whispered back.

He then leaned in, brushing his lips against hers, he then pushed forward and kissed her gently, as she kissed him back. Then they broke it, and he stepped back, a dazed look on his face—until he thought of Cat.

"Shit!" He said, and then began to panic. "Shit, shit, shit!"

"What? What's the problem?"

"I shouldn't have done that, I'm sorry."

An emotion passed through Jade's eyes, and Beck instantly felt guilty. "You still have feelings for your ex don't you?"

He nodded, feeling even more guilty than he already was.

"You know…" She said, "I thought you were different, but I guess I was wrong about that." And with that she quickly got her things together and walked out of the door. But before she did, she felt her wrist being tugged, and then being pulled forward, a moment later, Beck's lips on hers again.

"Why did you do that?" She asked angrily, breaking apart from him.

"I…I don't know," He admitted. "I'm so confused."

"Well, get unconfused." She snapped, "I'm leaving." And with that, she was gone.

Beck slammed his head against the locker, as he looked at Andre, while they watched Jade walk past them, not saying a word. "It's been like three days. The scene is due today…what if she doesn't do it with me and I fail the assignment?"

"Trust me, bro. She'll want to do it." Andre told him. "She doesn't want an F."

"Okay, but…" He looked at him, "Was it so wrong to kiss her?"

"No," He said. "I mean, yeah, Cat's gone, but not in the sense that she's dead, but you really don't know how long she's gonna be gone for. And it's not like you waited a week. You waited two months, that's a long time." Beck still said nothing so he continued. "It's okay to have feelings for another girl."

"I know, it's just…hard, you know? I mean, I want Cat still, but Jade just… turned all that around."

"Well, after you kissed her and freaked out, what happened next?"

"She got mad of course, and then she was leaving and I kissed her again, saying I was still confused and she told me to get unconfused and then left."

"So you kissed her again right?"

"Yeah…" Beck answered. "I did."

"Well, then I have another question for you, but for I ask that, you kissing her, didn't really mean you were all too confused, especially if you did it twice. You knew _exactly _what you were doing."

"Okay…" Beck replied and Andre sighed, he thought for a moment before looking straight at his best friend.

"And you told her about Bentley?" Beck nodded. "Then, I think you're ready to…let someone else in. Otherwise, why would you have done that?"

Beck still said nothing, thinking, so Andre continued, still staring straight at him.

"Do you really want to wait around forever?"

That got Beck thinking, and it got him thinking hard.

"Okay," He finally said. "Good point."

A few minutes later, Beck walked into class to find Jade in the corner reading a book. "Hey." He said and she looked up for a moment, a glare on her face, before returning back to her book. "Okay, look. I know I said I was confused before, but you have to cut me some slack. I'm not used to… well, _this_." He said waving his arms around, for effect.

"What do you mean?" She asked him and he sighed.

"My uhm…last girlfriend, or well, _ex_." He said when she looked at him. "Uh, she and I were together a really long time, and before that, we were best friends, since we were kids. And uhm… it's just hard, having feelings for another girl. I don't mean that in a bad way," He said when he saw the look on her face, "It's just…I don't know how to explain it, but it's a good feeling… in a away. It means I'm ready to move on."

She nodded, "yeah, I understand that." She said, "In a way. I had a boyfriend too, back home in New Jersey, but we broke up when I moved. So this having feelings for you thing… does feel kinda strange."

"Yeah, so, you see where I'm coming from?"

She nodded, "Yes, I do." She said, and he smiled.

"Thanks."

She smiled back, before asking her next question, "So, what does this mean?"

"It means…whatever you want it to mean."

"Meaning?"

"Are we really doing this?" He laughed, and then took her hand. "I want to take you out on a date, tomorrow. Movie, dinner, whatever you want."

She smiled, "I'd be happy to go." And he laughed again, for the first time in two months feeling _very _carefree.

"Thank you." He said, "For letting me in and allowing me to let _you_ in."

She smiled back, "Same goes for you." She said, and then did something she didn't think she'd ever have the guts to do.

She leaned forward, and gently kissed him. And then she broke it, laying her head on his shoulder she played with his fingers smiling. They hadn't yet gone out on their first date yet, but it sure felt like they were a couple already.

And that alone, made them _both_ happy.

**PRESENT DAY **

"Andre was right that day… you know, about me being ready to move on." Beck told her, still running his fingers along her arm.

"Yeah I know." She said, "And now? Now we're engaged. That's crazy." She said, holing her arm out so she could see the ring. She looked at him, "But it doesn't mean I'm not happy." And with that she kissed him giggling against his lips when he started to tickle her.

Then she kissed him harder, causing him to stop what he was doing and kissed her back. She got on top of him, and kissed him more, grinding herself against him as he groaned into her mouth.

"I love you." She whispered, kissing him again, deeper.

"I love you too." He whispered back, and they continued to make out for a few more minutes, hoping nothing would disturb them.

Which was just wishful thinking on their part.

Her phone then went off, breaking their moment, and she got up quickly to answer it. "Hello?"

"Jade!" It was Tori, of course. "We have a problem."

"Okay? And what's that, you just ruined my moment here with Beck."

"Uh, gross. Anyway, it's about Cat." Jade's whole body froze, and she sat up on the bed, looking at Beck. Who just stared at her, concerned at her upset facial expression.

"Okay, where is she?"

"She's uh… at the races?"

"What do you mean?"

"Okay, so apparently, she went on some kind of drive left her phone behind—typical Cat by the way," Jade rolled her eyes, despite the fear she felt in her stomach, "and met up with Matt and his crew."

"Where the hell did she meet them?"

"I don't know, anyway, he told her about the street races that were going on in Arcadia… and that's where she is now."

"Is it dangerous?"

"No shit, Jade. She could get hurt."

"Okay, well. Uh, I'll let Beck know and we'll come get you, okay?"

"Alright."

Jade nodded, even though she couldn't see her, and then hung up her phone turning to Beck, "That was Tori." She said and Beck nodded, motioning for her to continue. "She uhm, knows where Cat is…I still don't know how she found out this information, but I'm sure she'll tell us when we go get her."

"Why?" Beck asked, "What's going on?"

"Cat took a drive and met up with Matt and his crew," She began, noticing how Beck's expression darkened. "To make a long story short, she's in Arcadia where all the street races are."

"What?" He said, and got up, grabbing his keys. "Doesn't she know how dangerous that is?"

"I would assume she did, but... who knows, with what I've learned from her and her history… I wouldn't say it's a good thing."

"We have to go, now." He said and she nodded grabbing her coat, they quickly left.

It was around one in the morning when they got to Arcadia. Tori had explained to them she found out by one of her friends, Courtney. Who was at the diner when Cat had shown up, she had overheard the conversation and knew it wasn't good so she had called Tori.

They pulled up to the races looking around, noticing how crowded it was.

Tori was looking around over and over, until she spotted the familiar red hair and saw Cat in the sidelines, jumping up and down and clapping like a child—normal behavior for her. "There, she's there!" She pointed towards her. "I see her!"

They quickly got out of the car, and walked up to her. Beck tapped her on the shoulder and she spun around to look at them.

"What are you doing here?" She demanded.

"Wondering why the hell you're here." Jade said, she spread her arms out as far as she could with her hands in the pockets of her jacket, and stepped back. "So, why are you here?"

"I just met up with Matt and he told me about the racing." She shrugged, "I used to watch them all the time with Beck in Canada, he remembers, right?"

Beck then realized that she wasn't here to do the things she'd been doing before (or so he thought) but because she really and truly did love racing. He remembered taking her their numerous times back in Canada.

"But it's dangerous." Tori said, "you could get hurt, and the guys here… you shouldn't be around them."

"I know how to handle myself now." Cat unexpectedly snapped at Tori. "I'm not who I was two years ago anymore. I've grown up, I've changed, and no one will fucking see that!"

"Cat, Cat! Calm down, no need to get upset." Beck told her. "We were just worried about you, that's all."

"Yeah, well don't be. I'm so sick of people being so damn worried about me all the time. I just want it to stop."

"You don't really give us a reason not to be." Tori reminded her, "You flipped out two years ago, and just a couple months ago."

"Okay well, a lot has changed since then." She said, glaring at them, "So just get over it and move on." She looked at Matt and his friends, and began to walk in their direction. "I have."

"Cat! Don't do this!" Beck called out to her, "Just come in the car with us, we'll take you home, and you can forget all this happened. Matt and his dumbass friends will get you back to the way you were."

"No they won't."

"Yes, they will." He said, "it's called relapsing."

"It's called, stay out of my fucking business, Beck! You have a fiancé now, you replaced me not only in your life, but also in Bentley's, so go be with her, and leave me alone!"

She tried to turn away, but Beck grabbed both of her wrists, holding her in place. "You're always, always, _always_ going to be my best friend, and _nothing_ will ever change that."

She tried to move, but he wouldn't allow her to, still holding on.

"Just let me go!" She shouted. "No one cares about me! So why the hell does it even…even matter?" She then started to cry, her emotions getting the best of her and looked down, biting her lip she shook her head and then looked back up at Beck. "I don't deserve anyone."

"You do. And when you find that person, you'll be happy, I promise you."

She just stared at him, before finally speaking. "Remember when we thought it was you and me? Things have changed, haven't they?"

He nodded, "Yeah they have."

She just shrugged tears still spilling onto her cheeks. She looked behind her, at Matt and his friend who were now too high and too drunk to really care if she was still there or not. She also heard the sounds of cars whizzing past her, and then looked at Beck. "It's not them though." She said.

"No, you're right, it isn't."

"So, I guess…I should just go home with you?"

He nodded, and wrapped his arm around her hugging her close. "Yeah, that would be the best idea."

"But, can we come out here again? Just you and me? Like old times… because I really miss that."

"Courtney, we'll do whatever you want. You just have to tell me, let me know and I'll be there."

She nodded, and he let go of her, she wiped her tears away, and then walked to Tori and Jade ."I'm sorry you know, for yelling at you guys like that." She said, "Beck reminded me that I do have people who care about me, because I realize now why the hell would the three of you drive all the way out here in the middle of the night to come get me?"

"It's alright, Cat." Tori said, and Jade smiled.

"Yeah, don't worry about it."

Cat was debating whether or not to tell Jade about Bentley or about how her mother was married to her father, but she decided against it, deciding it was best for another time.

She looked behind her at Beck, her best friend in the whole world, despite all that they'd been through together, "Okay," She whispered, her hands in her pockets, "let's go home."

"I second that." Beck joked, and she playfully nudged him with her elbow.

"It's good to see that not much has changed." Tori commented, and Cat looked again at Beck, then at Jade, then Tori, and then back to Beck.

"Yeah, it is good, and I'm happy for that."

_It's all the dreams that never came true, cuz you're too damn scared to try…_

_So, that's it. The end of the chapter, NOT STORY. Haha, I actually like this one, it's cute. Beck and Jade are cute and so is Cat's now friendship with Beck. I'm gonna probably skip ahead a bit to around Bentley's birthday in the next chapter so Cat can finally meet him again. I'm just dying for it to happen, aren't you? _

_Also, Bentley's tests will be determined next chapter as well, and Cat's reaction to it when Beck tells her about how Jade went with him to the pediatrician, and all that. Let's just say she won't be too happy about it. _

_So, how was it? You like it? Please review and let me know what you think! I love you guys! Hehehe. _


	7. Chapter 7

_Hey, hey! I love you guys so much I decided (for the first time like EVER) to update this story again… on the same day! Yeah, I just love this story so much, lol. _

_Anyway, it's not as much Jade/Beck anymore back to Cat/Beck's past again. But same Beck/Jade at the end! Also, I tried to make Cat's reunion with Bentley emotional, but I don't think it came off that way. But… I tried my best! It's hard to imagine it, especially since he's four years old, but hey… I tried and that's all that matters. _

_I don't own anything… btw :{D_

"Hey, uh, Cat?" Beck ran up to her, somewhat slowly since she seemed at bit moody this morning as she had almost bitten Andre's head off for no reason.

"Yeah?" She asked, running her fingers through her hair and looking at him.

"Uh, well…Bentley's birthday is this week, and I was just wondering if you wanted to come to his party?"

Her eyes widened for a moment, before she narrowed them. "Shouldn't I meet him again first?"

"Well, yeah." He said, "That's the thing, you would if you go to the party."

Cat looked like she was thinking it over for a moment before finally nodding her head. "Yeah." She gave him a small smile. "I'll go."

He sighed, relieved. "Okay, good. Yeah good." He nodded, "I'll see you later in Sikowitz's class alright? Gotta get to Spanish."

"Yeah." She said, seeming somewhat distant again. "I'll…see you there."

He nodded again and walked away, he then turned and went to class, waiting for Jade to get there. And when she did, he pulled her over to him immediately so she could get the seat beside him.

"Whoa!" She'd said when she'd been pulled over. "What's going on?"

"Any idea why Cat is so distant today?" Beck asked her.

"No, why?"

"Because she's been moody all day! I don't know what's going on."

"Uh, well, I don't either. Unless…" Her eyes widened and she looked at Beck. Who looked back at her, but she still said nothing.

"Unless…what?"

"Unless, Tori told her I went with you to take Bentley to the doctor…"

"You told Tori?" He exclaimed and she immediately forced him to be quiet.

"Yes, I did. But not like you kept your both shut. Robbie and Andre know too."

"Well, yeah, but they'd keep it quiet."

"And, so would Tori, at least that's what I'm trusting to believe. Her sister on the other hand…"

"Okay! Well, Cat's the only one that doesn't know right? So if our friends can keep their mouths shut as well as us, we should be fine, right?"

"I sure hope so." Jade muttered. Beck was about to ask her another question, but their teacher came in then and they had to start the lesson.

He was so screwed if Cat found out and he knew it.

But what he didn't know, was there was someone behind him who had heard the _entire _conversation.

A couple days had passed and Cat hadn't brought it up or mentioned it, but she still seemed moody about _something_.

She was sitting in her make-up class waiting for it to start, when out of nowhere, one of the most popular girls in school, Brenda came up to her, she crossed her arms over her chest, and just stared at Cat for a while, causing her to feel uncomfortable.

"Can I help you?" Cat snapped at her, but she didn't back down, just kept the smirk on her face.

She really reminded Cat a lot of Patrice. Well, of course she did, they were both the meanest most popular girls in their schools. Fucking great.

"Yeah…so uhm, I overheard an interesting conversation in between Beck and Jade."

"Okay. And why is this my business? Whatever they talk about is in between them, not me."

"Yeah, well… I think you'd really like to hear what they said…since it concerns you."

"Oh really?" Cat said, "Okay, well. I'll ask them about it later, now will you please get the fuck out of my face?"

"No." Brenda said, "You see you probably don't remember this, but you burned me two years ago and made me feel like shit."

"Brenda I wasn't exactly 'myself' two years ago." Cat reminded her. "I'm sure you know all about it since everyone in Hollywood Arts apparently does already."

"Whatever. Now it's my turn to make you feel like shit."

"Oh this should be good." Cat said, yawning boredly and checking out her manicure.

"Well, for one, Beck said that you're nothing but a fuck up and always will be, and that the reason your family doesn't care about you is because of all the mistakes you've made," Cat almost looked hurt, but then she rolled her eyes and brushed it off causing Brenda to panic.

"I've known Beck my _whole _life, if you want to spread rumors about us you'd have to do way better than that."

"Fine, how about this then. Your son was sick, so he went to the doctors right?" This seemed to catch Cat's interest as it was her child. "Well, instead of asking, oh I don't know, his _mother_, Beck instead asked Jade to go with him."

"What?"

"Yeah, and I'm sure it's not the first time, now is it?" Brenda smirked when Cat looked at her, hurt in her eyes and on her face. She felt really good about it, finally getting Cat back and giving her what she deserves. "Yeah, guess he _really _replaced you didn't he? Oh yeah, and apparently Andre, Robbie, and Tori also know about this as well…" Her smile then became even more triumphant when Cat suddenly stood up, grabbing her things.

"Yeah, we're even now, or whatever it was you were trying to do." Cat said as she left. "I…I have to go now."

She walked out of the classroom and into the hallway, where she bumped into someone.

"Fuck!" She said as she got her things together and looked up to see it was… of all people, _Matt_. "Hi, what are you doing here?"

"I go to school here, remember?" He said, and she rolled her eyes.

"Oh right, well listen. I have to go, so if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go…"

"Wait!" He said, just as Cat saw Tori. She didn't see Beck or Jade yet, so she figured it was best as she was going to go crazy (and not in her normal way either).

"What?" She said and turned to him exasperated.

"Whoa, what's with the attitude?"

"Do you have a point here? Or are you just trying to make some lame conversation?" Cat demanded, "Because I really don't have any time for this right now."

"Okay, well, I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to hang out again—" He began, but Cat had walked away, as she had now spotted Beck and Jade, making out by the lockers. She walked in between them forcing them to break apart and threw her bag on the ground.

"What the hell you guys! I thought you were my friend," She said, glaring at Jade, and then turned to Beck, "And _you_, I thought _you_ were my _best friend_, but I guess not anymore huh? Because ever since I left to do what YOU wanted me to do, you just went ahead and replaced me in _my son_'s life!"

"Cat—what are you talking about?" Beck asked her.

"I know she went to a doctor's appoint with you because Bentley was sick or whatever. You asked _her_! Not me! "

"Well what did you want me to do?" Beck demanded, "You haven't seen him in two years!"

"He is _my _son. Not _hers_!" She was getting more and more worked up as she spoke, and both Beck and Jade could sense that. Tori then came from out of nowhere and stepped in, or at least _tried_ to step in. But Cat just ripped herself from her, and whirled on her glaring at her. "You too! You knew about it and you didn't tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Tori asked, "I just heard yelling and came to see what was going on."

"BULLSHIT!" Cat yelled, "You know exactly what's going on! Don't like to me! And I know that Robbie and Andre do too, and Brenda. Does the whole damn school know? Does everyone know but me?"

"Cat, I really don't get why you're so upset." Jade spoke calmly, a new one for her. "You're the one that's been refusing to see him…I'm sure if you had gone to visit him you would've been there."

"No." Cat snapped. "What my problem is is that your replacing me in my son's life. I don't like that, and yeah sure I kind of figured that but know that I know it's _really _true…I don't like it. Not one bit."

No one said anything so she continued. "Just because I have problems, _mental _problems, you're choosing her to take him to the doctor, not me?"

"What—Cat! I never said that!"

"No, but you implied it." She was now somewhat calmer as she realized there was a huge crowd around them. "You know what Beck? You just go ahead and live your perfect life with Jade. I'm done."

"What do you mean you're done?" Beck asked, suddenly fearful that she'd just leave again.

"I'm done. That's all you need to know." She turned around and faced Robbie, Andre, Jade, and Tori who were behind them. "And with you guys too."

"What?" Tori said, looking hurt.

"I can't trust you anymore, none of you. So, after Bentley's birthday… I'm leaving again. And this time, I'm taking him with me." She said directly to Beck.

"You—you can't do that! I was the one who raised him the last two years, he is in _my _custody, not yours!"

"Yeah, well. Guess what Beck? I'm taking you to court. Have a nice life." And with that she grabbed her bag and pushed through the crowd while Jade and Beck looked at each other, Beck frustratedly running his fingers through his hair.

"She can't do that, can she?" He asked, and everyone looked around.

"She's the mother, she can do whatever she wants." Tori said quietly.

Beck then kicked the lcokers, "Fuck!" He shouted, and then grabbed his bag walking away from them. Jade was going to go after him, but instead she just leaned against the lockers, shocked. She knew Cat was going to be upset, but not _that _upset. She bit her lip to keep from bursting into tears.

She felt so bad, and there was _nothing_ she could do to fix it.

What kind of horrible person was she?

**ONTARIO CANADA – SECOND WEEK OF SPRING BREAK (EIGHTH GRADE)**

Cat wasn't sure where the hell she was. She was in a van with Bianca and Ash (who both turned out to be seventeen instead of almost fourteen like her) and some friends of theirs. Beck was off visiting family elsewhere, so she was stuck alone, with her friends who… she realized weren't really her friends.

Her legs were underneath one of the boys who weighed like a hundred pounds more than she did. Pissed off, she yanked herself from them, and sat up. She wore an oversized wool cardigan that was literally ten sizes to big for her, but it was comfortable and she loved it. She was leaning against the wall of the van, and straightened herself, adjusting her leggings, tank top and jacket, she pulled her knees to her chest wishing Beck was there with her.

"Hey." She heard and looked up, to see Ash's older brother, Kyle, crawling his way towards her. "You okay?"

She didn't answer him, just looked away.

"Come on, what are you hiding, Courtney?"

She noticed how he'd sat down beside her, and did so, very closely.

"I—I'm not hiding anything." She said. "I just miss my boyfriend is all."

"Oh, so you have a boyfriend." He said, nodding his head. "I'm just gonna go ahead and assume he doesn't know you're here, am I correct?"

"Yeah. Sure. Whatever." Cat muttered and he put his hand on her knee. She moved it away instantly and he laughed.

"Look, I'm not gonna make a move on you. You got a guy, and I can respect that. I'm just trying to help you out. But now, I have a question for you… why are you here? Why are you friends with my sister?"

She shrugged, "I don't know, she seemed cool…"

"And she always has the drug hook-up." He noticed how she tensed up and nodded his head. "Yeah, I figured that as much."

"Look, what I do in my life is none of your business." She snapped, her hand going to her stomach as she felt that familiar lurch, and knew what was going to happen next. Her eyes widened, "Okay. We need to pull over—like now." She said.

"What, why?"

"Well, unless your friend wants puke all over your car, I suggest we do it—_now_." She said and he instantly got up, moving through the van—kicking the kid that was on her legs, which she found herself feeling happy about—and spoke to someone at the front. She tried to keep it it down but knew it wasn't going to last much longer. Almost instantly the car jerked to right—which didn't help_ at all_, and stopped. She quickly got out, jumping down she ran just off the road to trees and fell to her knees, bringing her hair in a ponytail she puked for a couple minutes before standing up and wiping her mouth.

Then she walked back to the van, slowly and looked down at her stomach, her hand on top of it, feeling the small yet not yet noticeable bump there.

"What the hell happened to you?" Ash asked her, "Did you already party too much?"

"Well, no. You were too drunk and out of it, but uh, I didn't really party at all last night." Cat responded getting into the van.

"Then what other reason to you have for blowing chunks?" Ash asked, "That was kind of gross by the way."

Cat just stared at her, blinking for a moment, before she looked away, rolling her eyes. "I don't know, stomach flu?"

Ash leaned forward, "I may not be a doctor, but I know that if you were really that sick, you'd have a fever."

"Yeah, well…whatever." Cat muttered and went back to the wall she was sitting at before, noticing Kyle was still there. "Why are you still here?" She groaned.

He looked around, "Not much else to go to." He said, spreading his arms out to show her. "Why? Have problem with me being here?"

"Yes." She said, "I just want to be alone." She tightened her sweater around her again, and began to absentmindedly rub her stomach with her thumb. "Oh, and thank you for doing…what you just did."

"Yeah, anytime." He murmured as he watched her. "Uh, any reason why you touch your stomach like that?"

"Like what?" She asked, and looked down, "Oh, _that_. Well, uhm, I just threw up, so I do that, to make the aching go away?"

Kyle blinked at her, "Or you're maybe… pregnant?" He said in the same way she did and she glared at him.

"Meaning?"

"Meaning you have a baby in there, and that you're really fucking stupid for agreeing to come on this trip knowing that."

"You think you know me, don't you?" He smirked at her. "Well guess what, I'm not pregnant and you don't need to worry about me doing… things!"

"Okay, then if that's true… go get a beer and drink it."

"No."

"No?"

"Yes, _NO_." She said again. "I have a right to say no."

"Yeah." He scoffed, "If you're pregnant and don't want to fuck up the baby."

She rolled her eyes, and lay down in fetal position, she put her hoodie over her head and plugged in her headphones, about to drown out his voice when he spoke again.

"If you _are _pregnant, I suggest you think about your priorities and shit, Courtney. Otherwise that baby will be fucked up when it comes out of you."

She sat up angrily, "Why don't you just shut the fuck up?"

"Why?" Kyle shot back, "Afraid?"

"Of what?" She demanded. "I have a boyfriend! A boyfriend I've been with for like two years! I don't need you and your pedophile ass near me, okay? So just leave me alone!" She then lay down again, and he went over to her, looking at her. She pressed play to ignore him, but found it wasn't working and stopped the song. She sat up again. "What?"

"Nothing." He said, "Nothing at all."

"Good, then get the hell away from me."

This time he did listen to her, and moved to the other side of the van. She sighed, satisfied and turned her music back on, pulling her hood over her head, she closed her eyes so she could get some sleep.

A few hours later, she woke up, to find that the van had stopped and no one was with her. She got up and looked around, quickly getting out of the van to find everyone was around a bonfire. She sighed in relief walked over to them, taking a seat beside Seth, a pretty good friend of hers.

"Hey." She said, and he smiled at her.

"Hey."

"What's up?" He pulled out a bag of marshmallows and gave her a stick. "Roasting some marshmallows, went some?"

Her hand went to her stomach, but she nodded anyway. "Yes, I would love one." She said and put it on the stick, leaning it over the fire. She stared at the fire for a moment, the cool breeze blowing through her hair, "Don't you just wish you could walk through fire?" She wondered absentmindedly. "I mean, it would be kinda cool."

"Yeah, people do do that sometimes, and they have the burns to prove it."

"No, I know that… I just… I don't know." She said, and twirled her stick as he marshmallow caught on fire. She blew it out, and then bit in to it. "Oh my god, that's so good!" She said, and Seth laughed.

"Yes, yes it is."

"You do realize, that Beck can _never _find out about this, right? If he knew I was out on my own, with them… especially because he has no clue who they are, he'd kill me."

"I won't say a word."

"Thank you. And thank you… for coming with me. And keeping my secret a secret."

"No problem…" He smiled at her again and she shifted grabbing another marshmallow.

"Why are these things so damn good?" She wondered outloud only to receive a shrug. "I don't know."

They were quiet again, until she began to sing, "_The day I first met you, you told me, you'd never fall in love, but now that I get you, I know fear, is what it really was. Now here we are, so close, yet so far, how did I pass the test? When will you realize.. baby I'm not like the rest?" Her voice then became louder, as she sang more, getting into it, "Don't wanna break your heart, wanna give your heart a break, I know you're scared it's wrong like you might make a mistake, there's just one life to life, and there's no time to waste, to waste, so let me give your heart a break, give your break, give your heart a break, oh yeah… yeah…" _She finished singing, and looked up to find everyone was staring at her. "Okay, what?"

"You're singing, it was amazing." Bianca told her.

"You think so?" Cat asked, and Bianca nodded her head.

"Totally! I didn't know you could sing like that."

"Yeah…I love singing. I've been doing it for forever, I can't even remember when I started. My boyfriend loves it though." She said, rubbing her arm self-consciously.

"Well, it's good." Bianca said, and Cat realized that was the first compliment she'd _ever _given her in all the time she'd known her.

"Thank you." Cat said her voice soft.

"Well, come on, we should get to driving, we have to be back in Stratford by tomorrow afternoon," Kyle said, looking at Cat. "I don't want anyone's parents to get pissed off."

"Shut up," Cat snapped, and stood up. "My dad doesn't even care about me. He probably doesn't even notice I'm gone."

"And what about your mom?"

"Deceased." She said and he looked taken aback.

"I'm so sorry." He whispered, "I didn't know."

"Yeah well, whatever." She moved past him, but he grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"What is your problem with me?"

"I don't have one, I just want you to leave me alone." She snapped.

"Why are you—"

"Just leave me alone!" She snapped and pushed him away, going into the van. She turned around before she did though, and glared at him. "And stay the hell away from me."

The next morning, she woke up to see it was nearly sun up. She lifted her head to find she was back in Ash's neighborhood and that they were going to be at her house soon. She got up, and rubbed her head, noticing it hurt—a lot.

She was groggily looked around her, to see that Ash, Bianca, and her friends were taking cocaine hits, and her eyes widened. "Why the hell are you doing that so early?" She asked, going over to them.

Ash laughed, "Why the hell not?"

"I don't know…" She said, looking at a phone she randomly picked up, "it's like five in the morning! You're insane!"

Ash looked at her for about a second, before she looked at her, holding the baggy. "You want to do it?"

"What?" Her hand instinctively went to her stomach, "N-no, I can't."

"And why not? You're giving us so much shit, I think you should." Ash glared at her and she shrunk back a bit before glaring back at her as the van came to a stop. "Come on, Courtney, take a hit."

"N-no." Cat stammered, "I-I can't."

Instead of getting pissed off and in her face, Ash just shook her head, and then slapped the small baggy into the much younger girl's hand. "Fine, than you can just keep this, consider it… a gift."

Cat looked at it for a minute and held it up. "I don't want it."

"Well, I think you should keep it… you know in case you want to feel _good_." Ash said leaning in closer, causing Cat to fall backwards. She was about to say something when she realized her phone was missing and began to panic.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" She said, as she looked quickly for her phone. "Where the fuck is it?"

"What? Your phone?" Bianca asked, and Cat nodded. "It's right here." She handed it to her, "I don't know how it got here, but it did." Cat breathed a sigh of relief as she felt her ipod still in her pocket. "Yeah, some guy named Beck keeps texting you."

Shit.

"Yeah, that'd be my boyfriend." She said and quickly grabbed the phone from her. She quickly opened the messages, instantly feeling guilty as she read them.

_I miss u, babe._

_Do u miss me?_

_Well, I guess not. That's ok though u probably forgot ur phone. _

_CAT! _

_Ok, now I'm really getting worried u haven't responded to any of my messages or phone calls… where the hell r u? _

_I'm coming home tomorrow… r u gonna come over? _

_CAT! _

They ended there, thank god, and she saw the last message was sent just about… well, _five hours ago_. She was so fucked.

She immediately tried to call him, only to find her phone died _just_ as she did that.

"Fuck!" She said, and threw her phone on the ground her hands going to her head. And as she did that, she felt like she was going to be sick again. As everyone stared at her, she just rushed out of the van quickly and threw up on the side of the road, and then she wiped her mouth again and got back inside the car.

"Okay, what's with you? Why do you keep puking?" Bianca asked her, she got closer to her, as her eyes widened with worry. "You're not like… _pregnant_ are you? She whispered and Cat shook her head.

"Probably just a bug." She said, and Bianca nodded seeming to accept the answer.

"Okay." She said and left Cat alone with her phone and the small bag of cocaine. She picked up her bag, and found a pocket; she put it in it quickly and zipped it up. Then got out of the van again. "Well, guys it's been fun… I have to go to home now and call my boyfriend before he kills me."

Everyone said goodbye, except Kyle who caught up with her just as she began to walk away. "Let me take you home." Cat was about to protest when he spoke over her, "It's dark, a young girl like you will get hurt."

"Yeah, sure fine." She said, and he led her to his crappy car. She got in it, and he drove her to her place, looking around at the huge houses on her street, his mouth dropped open.

"Holy shit, are you loaded?"

Cat made a face, "No, but my dad is."

"Damn, I would _love _to live in a place like this!"

"Well, it's not all glamorous like you think," She said, taking her seatbelt off, "Anyway, this is my house, thanks for the ride."

"Yeah…" He said seeming distracted. "Anytime."

"Well…goodbye." And with that, she got out of the car, slamming the door and walked up to her front door, unlocking it, she opened it and quietly walked up the stairs to her bedroom—where she saw Beck was, laying there sleeping.

Oh, fuck. How the hell did he get in? And how was she going to explain herself for her absence?

She quickly put her bag under her bed where he wouldn't find it, and sprayed herself with perfume before laying in bed with him, getting comfortable she closed her eyes.

She woke up a few hours later, to Beck's arms wrapped around her. She turned around, and faced him, sleepily smiling at him as he smiled back.

"How was your grandmas?" He said, and Cat looked at him confused before realizing that her father actually thought she was going there, and had told Beck that's where she was. He actually listened to her, for once.

"It was good." She said, "I had a great time." She then leaned forward and kissed his lips softly so he would ask anymore questions. "How was your family?"

"They were good." He said, "But I couldn't wait to get back here."

She looked down for a moment, "Do they know?"

He shook his head, "Not yet. I won't tell them unless you're ready for me to."

She smiled, "Thanks Beck."

"No problem." He yawned and she laughed. "Still tired?"

He nodded, so she kissed his cheek, "Okay, so get some more sleep, I could use it too."

He nodded, and then put his hand on her cheek, causing her to face him. "I love you, you know." He said, and she looked at him.

"I know you do." She whispered, "I love you too." And with that, she closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep, knowing fully well that Beck wasn't to far behind her.

**PRESENT DAY **

Cat nervously walked up the familiar pathway to Beck's house. She knew what she'd done a few days before was a bit out of line, but so was what everyone else did. She held a gift in her hand, and looked at the time on her phone. She was about an hour early, which was her intention. She knocked on the door, and it opened to find Beck on the other side, looking a bit tired.

Even though she was still _really _angry with him, she couldn't help, but give him a hug. She wasn't sorry, but she knew that what she'd said was probably stressing him out.

He hugged her back before she quickly stepped away.

"So, how are you feeling?" He asked her quietly.

It was amazing to her, that even when they had a huge fight and she'd threaten to take him to court, that he still cared about her, and asked her casual questions as though nothing had happened at all.

"Nervous." She whispered, "And anxious."

"You have no reason to be," Beck whispered back, "He's your son, he's going to love you no matter what."

"Yeah, we can only hope." She said, and sighed running her fingers through her hair. "I don't even think he knows what I look like."

"Oh trust me, he does. He's seen pictures of us when we were younger, as well as some recent ones." He smiled at her, "Don't worry, Courtney. He knows _exactly_ who you are."

Cat said nothing, but nodded, and stepped inside the house. "Is anyone else here?"

He shook his head, "No, my mom went to go get some last minute decorations, and Jade won't be here for another hour, as well as everyone else who won't be here for about two hours. We figured this would be a private moment for you, and decided they'd should just come later, so you could have your time with him."

"Oh." She said, surprised they were so nice to her, "Well, thank you."

"Yeah, you're welcome." He said as they walked through the house and towards the stairs. Her heart began to beat fast as she remembered _everything_ that had gone on in that house, and the _last _time she'd been there.

She stood at the bottom of the stairs as Beck went up, she held the banister so tight, her fingers were going white. Her eyes were closed and she took a couple of deep breaths, before feeling calm enough to continue going up them, her heart beating faster and faster with every second that past by.

She then looked at the photos on the wall and noticed there was one of her and Beck when they were six. She stopped to look at it, touching it gently and smiled, happy to see he kept _some _part of her with him the last two years.

Although, she did wonder how Jade felt about it.

"You ready?" Beck asked quietly as he stood at the door with _BENTLEY_ on itin large block letters.

She took a deep breath, "No. But I think—I think I should do it anyway. It's his birthday… and—" She stopped, her eyes going wide. "I'm so nervous."

"Why?" Beck asked, "He's your son. Sure you haven't see him in two years, but the kid's been asking about you each day. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you, just give him a chance."

She closed her eyes again and nodded, opening them, "Okay. Okay. I'm—I'm ready." She said, and Beck gave her a small, encouraging smile, before knocking on the door and opening it to find Bentley on the ground playing his with trucks, the picture of a pink elephant colored in beside him.

Cat couldn't believe it—she was so close to him, _so_ close to her son after two years, just on the other side of the door. She took one more deep breath and waited until it was an appropriate time to go in the room.

"Hey, Bentley." She heard Beck say, "I have a birthday surprise for you." The little boy didn't hear him, so he then gestured to get his attention. He didn't know much sign language yet, but the doctor advised he still learn some until they got the results back, which was supposed to happen next week.

"Hi, daddy." He said quietly, and hugged him, "Guess what!"

Beck smiled, "What's that?"

"I'm this old!" He said and held up five fingers.

"Take on away and _that's_ your age, kid." Beck said laughing as he looked at his fingers, a bit confused. He helped him, taking one finger away he gently bent it down, so he could see exactly how many there were left.

"Oh, okay!" Beck tickled his stomach and then looked at him.

"I have a surprise for you." He said, and Bentley looked at him.

"What?" He asked, and then looked behind his father, his eyes wide, he didn't say anything and Beck turned to see Cat was leaning against the doorway. Her hand was over her lips, which were was trembling, and tears were welled up in her eyes. She walked in slowly and bent down, taking the little boy's hand in hers.

"Hey, there, Bentley." She whispered, and didn't receive much of a response from him. She figured it was just because he was in shock a little bit.

"Mama?" He said, and she looked down, the tears now flowing down her cheeks. She grabbed him and hugged him really tight.

"I missed you so much." She said, louder, and he looked at his dad over her shoulders.

"Daddy said you will come back someday."

"Well, I know it's been two years," She sniffled pulling away and looking at him, "But I'm much better now."

He tilted his head, "Where did you go?" He looked at her, so innocently, it broke her heart that she had even left in the first place.

She looked down, "I was sick," She said quietly. "And I went somewhere to help me get better."

"All better?"

She smiled, nodding her head. "I'm close to it."

He then put his hand on her forehead, and she looked at him confused. "Daddy does that when I'm sick." He explained, and then leaned in closer, putting his ear to her forehead.

"What are you doing now?"

"Daddy does this too!"

"No, Bentley, I lean forward to make sure you're breathing correctly." Beck spoke up, "You got it confused, silly."

"Oh, sorry." He said, and Cat smiled at him.

"That was a very good job! I'm happy you did that, did you find anything wrong?"

He shook his head, but said nothing in response and then bent down, picking up his coloring book, "Look, I color!"

She smiled, looking at it more, "It's beautiful! You color just like me!" She poked his stomach and he giggled.

"This is the best birfday!" He said, and Cat looked at him, smiling warmly.

"You don't know…" She said as tears came to her eyes again, but Bentley leaned forward to wipe them away. She grabbed his small hand, "You don't know how happy I am to hear you say that."

He nodded, "Thanks for coming back, mommy." And he hugged her, causing her to hug him back and look up at Beck.

He bent down again to their level, "Are you happy Ben? To have your mommy and daddy back together?"

Bentley nodded, pulling away to show Beck that he had tears in his eyes.

Beck smiled, putting his hand on the back of his head, and leaning forward to give him a kiss, "Happy birthday, Benny." He said, and then looked at Cat, pulling her towards him, he gave her a kiss on top of her head, and pulled Bentley towards them, holding the both of them together, he was happy to have his small family back.

Jade walked through the house, going upstairs, she saw Cat and Beck in Bentley's room; Beck playing with the toy cars, and Cat throwing some confetti in the air, laughing when he tried to grab it and eat it.

"No! No! Silly, you can't eat it!"

She hated to ruin the moment, but knew she had to, if they were going to give the little boy a party. She softly knocked on the door, gaining mostly Beck's attention, he looked at her for a moment, before getting up and going to her.

"How was the reunion?" She asked, quietly as Beck shut the door behind him. He had a smile on his face, so she knew it went well.

"It was…emotional. But Bentley welcomed her, so that's a good sign. He wants to catch up with her, but I told him that he'd have a really long time to do it later, so just to enjoy the time he has now and have fun."

"Wow," Jade said, impressed. "That's a lot for a four year old to take in."

"Yeah, I know." Beck said shrugging, "but as long as he's happy, I really don't mind." He leaned forward and kissed her softly. "When's everyone else supposed to get here?"

She looked at her phone, "Fifteen minutes."

"Okay, well let's just leave Cat and Bentley together, and we'll start setting up, okay?" She nodded and began to follow him, when she stopped him again.

"Wait, what about—"

"Not now." He said, speaking firmly. "I don't want to think about it now, and neither does she."

"Okay," She whispered, "Fine."

They walked into the kitchen, Beck going to pick up the paper plates and unwrap it, when he stopped suddenly, and looked at her. She looked back, and he immediately went to her, putting his hand on her cheek, he leaned in and kissed her gently.

"No matter what happens, that doesn't change the fact that I love you and that Bentley loves you."

"I know," She said quietly. "I've always known that."

"Even though…" He trailed off, shaking his head. "Nevermind, just keep that in mind okay? I never want you to forget that."

She smiled, putting her hands on his arms and pulling him towards her, kissing his lips gently. He responded by kissing her back, and they kept it up until the door opened and Andre walked in.

"Wh-whoa! I get you're home and all, but please, save that for later." He said and they laughed breaking apart, with Jade still close to him.

"What's up, bro?" Beck said high fiving him as Tori and Robbie walked in.

"Not much," His expression than turned serious. "How are Cat and Bentley doing?"

"Good, they're upstairs playing and getting to know each other." Beck said, "But meanwhile, we must set up for this party."

Andre smiled, "You got it man."

_It's just you and me, trying to find the light… like ships in the night._

_I don't own Demi Lovato's song either… but personally I think Ariana Grande's voice would fit so perfectly with her song… *sigh_

_What did you think of how Cat found out about Jade/Beck taking Bentley to the doctor? Personally even I think she overreacted, but hey, it I was in her position I most likely would've responded in that way as well, lol._

_And I also realized this, Jade doesn't know that Bentley is Cat's son in the chapters before chapter 6. But that was in Cat's point of view… in Beck's and everyone else's, Jade knows because Beck was upfront about it with her from the beginning, but she doesn't know that. So then when she yells at them, she pretty much finds out then I guess…according to Cat. I'll address why Cat notices she doesn't seem too in shock about it later. _

_Okay, anyway! I hope you enjoyed it! Plz review this chapter and the last one if possible! xoxox_


	8. Chapter 8

_I don't think I'm ready to post this, or where this came from, and I'm probably way out of line for posting this, but you've waited a long time! So, yeah… lots of stuff is revealed in this chapter.. well in between Cat and Jade anyway. Hope you enjoy! And please, feel free to tell me how much it sucked, lol. _

_Hope you enjoy! And thank you for the AMAZING reveiws I've gotten so far. _

"Tori, Tori!" Jade called, running to her friend who was struggling in getting through the doors of the school, as she had a huge stack of books in her hands and was trying to balance all of them along with her bag, which seemed like it was about to fall off her shoulder or break her arm… she wasn't quite sure which.

"Hey, Jade!" Tori responded brightly. "Will you please help me?"

Jade looked at her for a moment, and then shook her head, "Not a chance."

Tori then gave her an exasperated look, and Jade rolled her eyes, taking some of the books off her hands, Tori was able to stand upright and walk through the hallway with her without the fear of falling over.

"So, what did you want to tell me?" Tori asked as they approached her locker, she began to open it as Jade spoke.

"Well, have you seen or heard from Beck?" She asked her, and Tori shook her head.

"No, why?"

"I don't know. He usually meets me at the front of school and today he didn't. You don't think he's like…avoiding me do you?"

Tori shook her head, "I doubt it. You know how he is with Bentley, he probably just woke up late and had to take him to school and then forgot to take his phone, totally a perfect explanation."

Jade looked at her for a moment, contemplating what she said, before she breathed out a sigh of relief, "Yeah, Tori you know you're probably ri—" She began, but was cut off by giggling coming from the entrance to the school and spun around to see Cat was there with Beck, swinging her arm back and forth while his did the same. She was going to go over there and demand what the fuck was going on and why they were holding hands, when Beck walked in farther, and she saw that they were _both _holding Bentley's hands and were swinging him back and forth.

"Well, I didn't see that coming." Tori said and Jade turned to her, glaring at her as Tori shrugged. "What?"

Jade just angrily rolled her eyes and walked up to the happy little family. "What's going on here?" She asked her eyes so cold and dark they were making Cat _very _uncomfortable, but in the way she was acting, she was able to come off as totally fine.

"Uh, well, it turns out Bentley doesn't have school today," Cat began.

"And my mother is too busy working," Beck added.

"And you know I don't trust my father or stepmother with him…" Cat continued.

"So, we decided to bring Bentley to school with us today!" Beck finished, throwing his free hand in the air and smiling at her as Tori joined the group.

"Okay, well, uhm…" Jade bent down to Bentley's level. "Are you gonna spend all day with us today?" She asked the four year old who looked at her, and signed something. She looked at Beck, confused.

"He said, _yes_." Beck said, and then cleared this throat, as Cat still didn't know about what was really wrong with Bentley as she had dropped the subject of taking Beck to court over it. He was hoping she'd just forgotten about it, and wouldn't put him or his mother through it, but you could never tell with Cat… she was always unpredictable.

And since Bentley's birthday two weeks before, she'd been pretty much okay since she was able to be around him more… as often as she wanted which he could see made her _very _happy.

Beck let go of Bentley's hand, and motioned for Jade to get up, while Cat picked him up, holding him against her side, she looked at Tori while Beck pulled Jade closer to him.

Cat's eyes went to them for a split second, and Tori saw a look of jealously and sadness as Cat then walked past her towards her locker. Tori followed her, leaning against the one next to it, she smiled at the little boy.

"You're not going to put Bentley in there are you?" Tori joked and Cat just shook her head.

"No way." She said quietly, shrugging, as she struggled to open the locker. Tori offered to help her, but she managed to open it while still holding Bentley.

"Well, well… who do we have here?" They both looked up to Sikowitz standing in front of them, Cat turned, and looked down a flustered and caught off guard.

"This is Bentley." Cat said, smiling.

"Well, hello there, Bentley." Sikowitz ruffled the boy's hair, causing him to glare at the teacher. Sikowitz laughed as Bentley then stuck his tongue out and looked away. "Why so upset?"

"He's mad because you messed up his hair." Cat kissed the boy's head and then looked at her teacher, "anyway, he's spending the day with us. There's no one to watch him and he doesn't have school today."

"Oh, well, that's nice." Sikowitz said, "Looks like we'll have a fun day of class! Right, Bentley?" The boy still hid his face, so Sikowitz just chuckled and told the two girls he'd see them in class later.

Cat turned to close her locker, and walked away from it, as Beck and Jade caught up with them, and Beck offered to take Bentley from her. She gave him to him, and then ran her fingers through her hair.

"It's so strange…" She said, "having him here.." She smiled and tapped his nose. "Remember the first time we took him to school?" She asked and Beck nodded.

"Oh yeah, I remember that very clearly." He said, "He wouldn't stop crying."

"Oh yeah… but at least our teachers liked him."

Jade looked uncomfortable for a minute, before taking Beck's free hand, "The bell's going to ring soon, should we get Bentley something to eat?"

"Oh, no. He already ate… so he's fine." Cat answered just as Beck opened his mouth to speak.

"Oh, okay." Jade said, and then she got impatient again, "Beck, may I speak to you privately? Like… over here?" And then without waiting for a response she pulled him aside.

"What's the problem?" Beck asked her, and she just sighed irritably.

"Look, I know Cat's his mother and all, but—" She looked at him seriously, "You _need _to tell her about his condition, what the doctors said, before she finds out from someone else, and then we have repeat of what happened a couple weeks ago."

"I know," He said, "And I should tell her, but with what happened during her pregnancy and everything I know she's going to blame herself for it."

Jade shrugged, "I understand that," She nodded her head, "But you still need to tell her, she has the right to know."

"Okay." Beck said quietly. "I'll tell her."

"Now?"

"No, uhm, later." He said, and then Jade gave him a look. He just shrugged and stepped forward kissing the top of her head. "I promise, later today." He whispered and she just sighed nodding her head.

"Okay."

The bell rang then and Beck smiled at her, "Don't worry about it okay? You worry too much and I hear it's not healthy."

"Well…" She said, a grin on her face, "Someone's got to." And then she kissed him, only to pull back and see that Bentley had a grossed out look on his face.

They laughed and Jade tickled his stomach. "You don't like that?" She asked him, and he shook his head.

"No!"

They laughed more and walked to class only to see Cat and Tori had already left and were there when they walked in. Beck took the seat next to Cat, with Jade on his other side.

"Hey!" Andre said as he walked into the classroom, Robbie behind him, "What's going on?" He then saw Bentley sitting in between Beck and Cat and smiled bigger, "And how's my favorite boy doing?"

Bentley just smiled at him as Sikowitz came in the classroom throwing his bag on the stage he faced the class, a smile on his face .

Everyone looked at each other as he just looked around.

"Well?" Andre said, "What are we gonna do today?"

Sikowitz smiled at him, and then looked at everyone else, his eyes stopping on Cat who was leaning over tickling Bentley's stomach. "Well, it's been brought to my attention that we have a special guest today!" He paused again, while everyone just stared at him. "Cat? Will you come up to the front please and introduce the little guy?"

Cat looked at Beck, her eyes wide as she got up, motioning for Beck to follow her. He picked Bentley up and walked to the front with Cat. She turned around on the stage, and looked at the class, her eyes meeting with Robbie's, Tori's, Jade's, and Andre's.

"Okay… well, uhm, this is Bentley. And he's…" She used her finger to motion in between her and Beck, "our son. He's four years old, and kind of shy right now…" She looked at him and saw he was hiding in Beck's chest, she smiled, "isn't he just so cute?" She tickled his stomach, causing him to look at her, and laugh.

"Yes, yes, he is." Sikowitz answered, and noticing how uncomfortable Beck and Cat were and motioned for them to sit down.

They did and Cat turned to Beck, mouthing her words about how awkward the situation was.

"Yes, Kaitlynn, you have a question?"

"Yeah, I wanted to ask Cat and Beck something…" She said sounding a bit shy. Beck and Cat looked up from the conversation—Beck mostly doing it because Jade had hit his arm—and looked at her, "Why did you guys name him Bentley?"

"Uh, well, we just liked the name…" Cat said, and the girl nodded. "So, uhm…" She looked at Beck, who looked back at her. They didn't want to say the real reason why they named him, it was in between them, something that he knew Cat didn't want to share. Not even their friends knew why.

"Okay, well, let's just continue, okay?" Sikowitz said clearly able to see Cat was uncomfortable.

As he spoke, Beck reached over Bentley, and took her hand. She looked at him, and he squeezed it, and as quickly as he had held it, he let go.

**TWO WEEKS AFTER SPRING BREAK – STRATFORD CANADA**

"Beck," Cat whispered, her hand on her stomach. "I think I just felt something."

"What?" He said, and looked at her, somewhat sleepily, laying on his side, he put his hand over hers, and looked at her. "I don't feel anything."

"Yeah, but…" She looked at him taking his hand, and interlacing their fingers, "I felt something."

He watched as she looked at her stomach, and then back at him, her eyes watering, he laughed quietly, and with his other hand, wiped her tears, "I'm not saying I don't believe you! Why are you crying?"

"I don't know." Cat admitted. "I just feel… happy." She whispered, and then leaned forward and kissed him. She cuddled into him, and looked at the plain, boring ceiling above them. "I have to go home." She whispered.

"I know."

"I don't want to."

"I know."

"So…" She looked at him, "What should I do?"

Beck shrugged, "I don't know," He said. "I mean, does your father know yet?"

She shook her head, "He's been out of town…" She looked down, "He doesn't even care about _me_ why would he care about his grandchild?"

"I don't know." Beck said, "That's a really good point though."

She just stared at him for a moment before cuddling back down and closing her eyes.

A few hours later, after Beck's mother dropped her off, she walked in to her house, to see her father was back home. She slowly walked into the living room to see he was sitting in his favorite recliner reading a newspaper.

"Hi, dad." She said quietly and he looked up at her.

"Hello Courtney." He said, his tone cold, and she felt tears come to her eyes, but stepped in more.

"When did you get back?" She asked him and he looked at her, finally.

"Does that matter to you?"

"I just wanted to know—"

"Enough!" He yelled at her, and she stopped talking looking at him, a sort of shocked look on her face. "I don't know what's gotten into you!"

"What are you talking about? I'm just trying to—"

"What did I just tell you?" Her father demanded glaring at her as he put his newspaper down. Cat backed up, for fear that he would get up and hit her.

"I'm not even yelling at you." She said quietly, "I'm just trying to talk to you."

"Well, don't waste my time or yours. I don't want to talk to you."

Cat just stared at him in disbelief. She bit her lip, trying her hardest to keep the tears from falling.

"Why—why don't you—" She was cut off when a woman walked into the room and sat on her father's chair. He smiled at her, and took her hand.

"How are you doing sweetie?"

"Wh-what?" Cat demanded, stepping further into the room again and approaching the woman. "Who are you?"

"I'm Archibald's girlfriend." She spoke, and then wiggled her fingers in the younger girl's face. "Or fiancé."

Cat looked at her father again, her violet eyes tearing. "I don't believe this." She whispered, close to freaking out.

"And who are you?" The woman asked, and Cat didn't say anything, waiting for her father to speak.

"She's my daughter." Her father said, saying it as though she was an irritant.

"Oh, hey, dad! Guess what!" Cat said, suddenly changing her attitude to someone more upbeat, and happy. "Oh yeah? You know, your daughter here? The one you neglected all her life? The one you didn't bother to inform about a new woman in your life? Yeah… well," She paused for a moment, letting her words sink in, watching as her father looked at her, a bit of a pissed off look on his face. She then made the quick, split second decision to tell him about her pregnancy, "because you didn't _bother_ to deal with me like ever… I have news for you! I'm pregnant! Yeah! I'm having a baby! Isn't that just interesting?"

And with that, she left the living room, the shocked look on her dad's fiancé, or whore or whatever was more than enough for her to know that she'd done the right thing in telling him. Especially with the yelling and fighting that followed soon after.

Beck was just about to fall asleep, the rain beating against his window loud and hard, when he heard a knock that startled him. He looked out the window only able to make out a figure there that somewhat more or less caused him to become fearful.

That was until he heard the familiar knock that was a code for so many years.

He jumped up and immediately opened it, pulling in a soaking wet Cat Valentine into the room. She fell against him, and then straightened herself up, her eyes red and puffy.

"Cat! Cat? What the… are you okay?" He quickly closed the window and ripped his comforter off his bed, covering her shivering body with it. "What has gotten into you? You're pregnant! The days of you climbing up the tree and then over to my window are over! You could've hurt the baby and—"

Beck felt her lips on his, which she usually did to shut him up. She then broke it, and sadly walked to his bed, sitting on it, she played with her fingers.

"Are you okay?" He asked, once he calmed down and stopped talking for a few seconds.

"I—I…" She looked up at him, "I tried to uhm, talk to my dad today." She whispered, "and you know, he ignored me, like he always fucking does, and then told me he had a fucking fiancé! Just a random woman walked into the living room and said she was his fiancé! They're getting married! Can you believe that?" Tears came to her eyes and she looked down shaking her head, and then she looked back up at her boyfriend, "I told him I was pregnant."

"And how did he react to that?"

"I don't know. I just told him off, went upstairs to my room, and listened to him and his new whore fight." She shrugged. It was silent for a few moments, before she spoke again. "I snuck out." She said quietly.

Beck wrapped his arm around her, and pulled her close to him, kissing the side of her head gently, he took her hand intertwining their fingers. "I'm so sorry." He said quietly, "that he treats you that way."

Cat shrugged, playing with his fingers. "It's not your fault. Besides, I'm pretty used to it."

He sighed, and was silent for a few minutes as he played with her fingers.

"Will it ever get easier?" She asked, her voice quiet.

Beck was silent for a few more seconds, while she looked at him, he looked back at her, "I don't know." He admitted honestly, "I really don't."

And that was enough for her to know… it _never would be_.

**PRESENT DAY**

"Cat!" She turned around to see Robbie running towards her, a smile on his face. She put Bentley down beside her and looked at him, holding the little boy's hand tightly. "I have really good news!"

"What's that?" She asked as Bentley began to pull away from her, upon seeing someone come from a different hallway with a huge chocolate chip cookie in his hand. "Bentley! Stop it!" She scolded and then looked at Robbie, "I'm sorry, continue."

"So, I talked to Mr. Wilkins about… you know the song you wrote the other day…" He trailed off, "or actually a few years ago."

Cat looked at him suspiciously, "What song?"

"You don't remember it?" She shook her head, "Well, you wrote it a long time ago, here I have the lyrics here." He quickly pulled something out of his bag and handed it to her. She let go of Bentley's hand and took it, looking it over.

"Oh, wow!" She said, "I can't believe you still have this!"

"I know…you gave it to me…to keep, in case you wanted to sing it later." He gave her a soft smile and she looked up for him to see she had tears welled up in her eyes. She immediately pulled him toward her and hugged him.

"Thank you." She whispered, and then pulled away, wiping her eyes she laughed softly. "I'm sorry, you know for getting all emotional."

"Hey, no problem." He softly punched her and she smiled. Then she shook her head, and quickly looked around uncomfortably, as she still was a bit afraid of her emotions and of other people seeing them. Another thing she was still working on getting over. "Yeah… so—" She looked down to see that Bentley wasn't _there_. She looked up at Robbie.

"Where's Bentley?" He asked her, watching as her eyes widened.

"Oh shit! I lost him!" She then began to run in the direction she remembered him pulling towards, and went there only to see he wasn't there _at all_. "Oh my god!" She looked at Robbie, tears streaming down her cheeks, as he hugged her softly rubbing her back. "I lost my son! What kind of mother am I? Beck's going to kill me!"

"Cat! Cat! Calm down…okay? We'll find him." He assured her, pulling her from him at arms length.

She nodded and then turned around, "Okay, well let's go find him." She whispered, wiping away her tears and calming down. She then began to walk further down the hall, Robbie behind her as she searched for him.

"Uh, okay. Cat? Does Bentley like cookies?"

"He _loves_ them, why?"

Robbie thought for a second, and then nodded. "Yeah, I think I know where he might be." He then took her hand, and walked with her in the direction of the cafeteria, noticing immediately that her body was shaking.

And sure enough, they found him there with Andre, sitting at table, eating a cookie. Cat breathed a sigh of relief, and then let go of Robbie's hand, running towards her son.

"Why did you do that?" She asked the four year old, "You scared me! I thought something happened to you!"

He didn't answer so Cat gently tapped him, "Bentley?"

"Sorry, mama." Was all he said, and she just sighed, going down to him she hugged him and held him close.

"It's okay." She whispered, "just don't do it again." She looked up at Andre, "thank you so much for finding him."

"No problem, Cat." He said, "I just saw him wandering the halls, and asked him what he was doing. He said he wanted a cookie so I took him here and got him one."

"Oh! That's right, how much was it so I can pay you back?" Cat asked, taking out her wallet, but Andre shook his head.

"It was two dollars, I'll live." He smiled and she nodded.

"Okay, Bentley. Take the cookie with you, we have to take you to see daddy and—" She felt something hit her stomach and looked down to see it was Bentley.

"I got you a cookie too." He said, "cause you be mad."

"You—you did?" Cat asked and looked at Andre.

"I got a two for one deal." He said and she shook her head, rolling her eyes, she looked at her son.

"Can I have it?" She asked and he nodded giving it to her. Then she noticed there was a difference, the one he was eating… was _real_, the one he was giving her, _wasn't_. "Where did you get this?"

"Andre give it to me." He said, and continued to eat his cookie. "I told him I wanted to find something for my mommy, and daddy told me you like cookies a lot."

Cat nodded, and looked at Andre, "where did you get this?"

"Beck and I were in the mall with him the other day, and Bentley mentioned that he wanted to buy you something, so while Beck took him to get something to eat, I saw this in one of the stores, and bought it. He was so excited when I brought it back to them, Cat. He couldn't wait to give it to you."

Cat's eyes teared up again and she picked Bentley up, hugging him close to her.

"I love you, mama." He said, and she looked at him.

"I love you _more_, Bentley."

He shook his head. "No."

"Yes."

"Noo! I love you more!"

She smiled, "We love each other equally, deal?"

He nodded, "Are you still sick?" He asked her, "Or all better?"

She thought for a moment, biting her lip. "I'm slowly getting there, but now that you're back in my life… I'll get much, much better, faster."

Meanwhile, Beck and Jade were in the theater, going over some notes from class earlier that day, when Jade put her hand on his paper and pushed it down, looking at him, she smiled.

"You know… we haven't kissed _all _day." She said, and he looked at her, confused.

"What are you talking about? We kissed like six times."

"Quickies don't count, don't you know that?" She asked him and he sighed, leaning forward he kissed her gently, and the broke it, laughing at her annoyed expression. "I don't mean like that! Stop laughing! Why are you laughing?"

"Because you're so cute when you're angry." He said and then leaned forward pressing her lips against hers harder, he kissed her deeper, and then broke it, smiling at her now dreamy expression. "Love you."

"Love you—love you too." She said, and then blinked. "That was some kiss."

"Yeah, well, you deserved it." He said and then leaned forward kissing her again. She kissed him back, and they started to make out—that was until the door to the theater opened and they broke apart quickly to see Bentley running towards them at full spead, nearly tripping once he reached the stage if it weren't for Beck's quick thinking in picking him up right when he got to him. "Hey, big boy! How are you?"

"I got a cookie! And I gave mommy hers!" Bentley told him excitedly gesturing with his hands.

"You did, did ya?" Beck asked him tickling his stomach and he laughed, as Beck looked up to see Cat standing in the doorway, a small smile on her face.

"He's a little troublemaker." She said and Beck nodded.

"Tell me about it, he loves to run off." Beck replied as Cat walked closer to them, ruffling Bentley's blonde hair when she did.

"Oh, so you've done this before?" She asked the little boy and he nodded. "Well, at least you got your cookie."

"Did he run off?" Beck asked her and she nodded as Beck looked at Bentley who hid in Beck's chest again. "No, no. You know you're not allowed to do that."

"I'm sorry." He said, his voice muffled.

Cat watched him and immediately felt sorry for getting him in trouble, "It's fine." She whispered, "Just don't do it again, okay?"

"Okay mommy!" He said, brightly and Beck and Cat looked at each other and then at Jade, noticing his drastic mood swing. He went from sad and scared to happy in seconds.

"Oh no." Cat whispered, "That's not a good sign."

"What, you mean his mood swing?" Jade asked and stood up, she looked in between Beck and Cat before turning to Cat, "is that like—"

"Me when I was his age?" All Cat got was a neutral expression from Jade, so she just sighed and nodded, not saying a word.

"Cat—" Beck spoke, and she turned to him, nodding his head in Jade's direction, telling her silently to tell him what she told him, but she just shook her head.

"No, I can't. Not yet, I'm sorry… but I'm not ready."

"Ready for what?" Jade looked confused, but Cat just backed away, shaking her head.

"I have to go, I'll see you guys in class, okay?" And with that, she blew a kiss towards Bentley and left the theater.

"What's she so afraid of?" Beck asked no one in particular. "No one's going to judge her."

"Judge her?"

Beck sighed, realizing he was still in the same room as Jade. "Yeah, she's…" He trailed off, "It's not in my place to say."

Even though Jade was _dying_ to know, she just brushed it off—for now.

So, that's why a few hours later, she was walking up the front steps of Cat's house, preparing to knock on the door, when it was thrown open to reveal a very distraught and upset Cat Valentine.

"What's going on?" Jade asked, noticing her tear stained face, puffy eyes, and bruised cheek. She gently touched it, and Cat flinched. "Cat, you _better_ start talking, now." She said, grabbing her wrist, causing Cat to wince at the contact. She began to lift her sleeve but Cat snatched her wrist from her and held it against her body.

"What the hell do you want from me?" Cat demanded. "Why are you here?"

"Oh, well, you know… to talk." Jade sarcastically snapped. "What the fuck is going on? You need to talk to me, _now_."

"Why should I?" Cat asked, her voice raspier than normal. "All you're going to do is run off and tell Beck."

"I won't… if it's not that serious, but judging by that bruise on your cheek," Jade looked pointedly at her cheek, "so… all you've got to do now is talk." She looked seriously at Cat and then spoke softly, "what's going on?"

"I just got in a fight with my father." Cat looked away and began to walk past her, "that's all." She said, and then stopped, realizing she couldn't just go to Beck's house like she used to be able to. Those days were over, now that Jade was in his life. She turned around, and faced her, "I'm going to see Robbie, so I'll just… see you later."

"No." Jade spoke firmly. "No. You are going to sit right there," She pointed to the curb, "And you are going to talk to me. Keeping it bottled inside, is not good for you, don't you know that?"

"Of course I know that!" Cat yelled at her, "That's the first fucking thing I learned while in treatment!"

"Treatment?" Jade asked, her voice once again soft.

Cat looked away biting her lip as tears filled her eyes.

"Yes, I went to treatment, for two years."

"For what exactly?"

Cat sighed and looked up, "Many things."

"Like wh—" Jade was cut off when the door to Cat's house opened and her stepmother came outside, looking nice and ready to go out for the night. Cat turned around before Jade did—that was until she spoke.

"_You_." She said, speaking to Cat like she was shit. "You need to go in there and apologize to your father."

"For what?" Cat snapped, "He's treated me like shit my whole life, I think it was time to let him know that."

"Well, I think you're a liar."

"Whatever." Cat said, "you don't even talk to your own daughter." She said to herself mostly, and Jade looked at her before _finally _turning around refusing to believe it was really her mother at first.

Her mother's eyes then widened as she saw who was in front of her, "Jadelyn?"

"Mother." Jade said, "May I ask why you treated my friend the way you did… or actually do?"

"You're—you're friends with this girl?"

Jade nodded, "Yeah, she's becoming one of my best, _why_?"

Cat looked up at her, shocked that she'd said it, as her stepmother began to speak again.

"So, you're choosing to be _best _friends," she said mimicking the way Jade said it, "with a former bipolar, schizophrenic, bulimic, drug addict?"

Jade looked at Cat for a moment before she saw Cat literally _snap_.

"Get the fuck out of my fucking face!" Cat yelled at her, getting closer, "Before I hurt you!"

And that's when Jade _realized_ that Cat was an overly sensitive person, more or less towards her past then anything else, which she in a way understood, which is why she reacted the way she did.

"You're nothing but a self centered gold digging bitch!" She nearly screamed loud enough that her father apparently heard it and walked out of the house.

"You wanna tell me what's going on here, Courtney?" He asked her, but before she or Jade could answer, his wife did.

"I was just coming out here to talk to Courtney and calm her down so she could apologize to you, when out of no where, she just yelled at me."

"That's not true!" Cat and Jade yelled together at the same time, surely her father would believe them both right? It was two against one.

"Why on earth would you do that?" Her father asked, "Why are you just so set on getting us to end our marriage? All she did while you were away was worry about you."

"Okay, father dearest," Cat snapped, "You haven't exactly been there my whole life, and if you're just putting up this act for Jade here, your _stepdaughter_, then I suggest you drop it _now_."

"My step-?" He turned to look at Jade and then at his wife, "is this your—"

"Daughter? Yes, nice to meet you…" Jade trailed off, "has she never mentioned me before?"

He shook his head.

"That's not a surprise." Jade said, "She and I never got along so why on earth would she mention she had a daughter?"

"I did mention Adam though," She said unnecessarily.

"Adam?" Cat said, "Who's Adam?"

"My brother." Jade said, her voice cold. "He and I don't get along well either, considering I haven't seen him since I was about two years old."

"You have a—" Cat blinked, "Whoa, this is too much to take on in one night." She turned to Jade, "Let's go to Beck's, okay? I'll call Robbie and we'll go take Bentley to a movie or something."

"Oh, so that boy is letting you see your son? How nice of him considering—"

Cat turned to her father, "Do me a favor? Shut up." And with that, she grabbed Jade's hand and walked off.

They both walked down the street when Jade stopped her, and touched her bruised cheek, "is what my mother said true?" She whispered.

"What?"

"About the bipolar, schizophrenic, bulimia, meth stuff?"

Cat nodded, "I was diagnosed in treatment as bipolar and schizophrenic, but mostly bipolar than anything else. I started to do drugs in eighth grade, so yeah, that's the meth addiction part, and then after Bentley was born it just got worse. And then I was told I was fat… by some girl at school and started to throw up everything I ate, to the point where Beck actually thought I was pregnant again, but then realized that it happened after I ate a meal."

"So then what happened?" Jade asked quietly as they began to walk again.

"Beck and I got in a fight and he pretty much forced me into treatment." She said, "I didn't want to, and he knew that, but then he convinced me by just saying 'do it for your son'. He wanted me healthy, for Bentley and what I realized later, for _myself_. He was doing it to _help _me. I was too selfish at the time to realize it and just… broke up with him."

"So yeah, anyway, I was in recovery for two years. I stayed at the treatment center for a year, and then my father sent me back to Stratford for another year to live with my grandparents who made sure I was clean before allowing me to come back to Hollywood Arts, and to see my son who I missed so much." She paused for a moment, and looked at her _best _friend. "I hadn't planned to come back until after graduation, but honestly I couldn't wait any longer. And in the back of my mind, I knew Beck moved on, but I still hoped he didn't… until I met you, and until today when I saw you with Bentley and how much he cared for you, I realized he made a good choice. I'm happy you're with him, honestly. Because regardless of _anything_ that went on, he is still first and foremost my best friend and all I would ever want is for him to be happy."

She looked up to see that Jade had tears in her eyes, and then looked at her confused and worried. "What? Why are you crying?"

"Just… what you said." She smiled softly and laughed a little. "No one's ever told me that before."

"Jade… anyone could see you make him happy, happier than I've ever made him anyway."

Jade adamantly shook her head, "No, no, Cat. That's not true."

"What's not true?"

"You made him so happy." She said, "And trust me, I knew that. And I just tried hard to be that person too, that made him as happy as you made him. I never wanted to replace you, that was _never_ my intention. Not in Beck's life, not in Bentley's life."

Cat nodded, "I know that now." She said, and then wrapped her arms around the taller, older girl. "Besides," she laughed a bit when they broke apart the hug. "We're sisters."

Jade laughed, "That we are." She whispered, "And I couldn't be happier."

Cat stared into nothingness for a minute, before turning back to Jade, a smile on her face, "I couldn't be happier about it either. Thanks for being… a positive influence in my life, in Beck's and in my son's. That's what has always been important to me, Beck and Bentley's happiness, as well as my own, and… you—" She stopped talking so that she could finish what she was saying without getting emotional.

"You just made all that happen." She said, her voice breaking. "Thanks for coming to visit today. It changed everything, but for the better."

Jade nodded, "Yeah, it did…didn't it?"

Cat laughed causing Jade to as well, before she pulled her close in for a hug, "Yeah, it sure did."

_I just love Cat and Jade's growing friendship.. don't you? Hm, more drama coming up! But I have a feeling you'll all LOVE the next chapter.. just sayin'. Hehehehe_

_Sidenote: is there anything you'd guys would love to see? Let me know! I love ideas, if you have any feel free to tell me. I don't bite. _

_Promise._


	9. Chapter 9

_Okay, I realize I said you might like this chapter… I don't really know! Haha, cause I had planned for like major Jade/Beck stuff, but this came out instead. I guess I was feeling particularly depressed or something. _

_Well anyway, it's long so enjoy. _

Beck was on his way from Lane's office to talk to him as he had asked him to before school started that day, on his way out the doors to pick up Bentley from daycare when he heard a beautiful voice singing from the theatre. He stopped suddenly to listen to it more, his heart beating fast as he _knew _that voice, quite well actually.

The more he listened the more he found himself to like the song. He opened the doors to see Andre sitting at the piano, playing a tune, with Robbie playing the drumbeat and Cat _nervously_ singing with a microphone in her hand. She laughed though when Robbie made a funny face at her, and continued to laugh so hard, she had to stop singing.

"Robbie!" She cried, covering her mouth with her hand and pressing down so hard, she sat on the floor unable to stop.

"Cat?" Beck said, quietly as he walked further into the theatre. She looked up at him and cleared her throat still laughing she took a deep breath, and looked at him, in an effort to calm herself down.

"Y-yes?"

She was have a _lot _of trouble getting herself together when the whole time all she could keep thinking about was Robbie's funny face.

"Were you really singing or was that my mind fucking with me?" Beck asked her, as she smiled at him.

"No, that was really me you heard singing." She said taking another deep breath, the giggles _finally _leaving her.

"Oh, well, it was beautiful." He said and leaned closer to her, "just like it always was." He whispered and then pulled away, smiling at her he walked out of the theatre. She stood there a bit confused, and called out to him.

"Where are you going?" She asked him.

"I gotta go pick up Bentley." He said, "You're coming by later, right?" She nodded and he waved as she did the same and turned to Robbie who made the face again, causing her to giggle.

"Why do you keep doing that?" She laughed, smacking him playfully on the shoulder and he just shrugged, he looked at her, and smiled.

"I just like making you laugh I guess." He said, and she smiled. Despite hearing those words from someone else _long_ before that, she realized it didn't bother her anymore to hear it differently. She then leaned down and kissed his cheek, giggling when he turned red, and looked flustered.

Andre was amused however and looked at Cat. "Awh! Look what you did to the poor guy Cat!" He said, "You got him all happy and such."

"Good!" She said, and wrapped her arms around her old friend, holding him tight, she squealed when he picked her up and twirled her around.

"I'm gonna head out, is that cool? I told my grandma I'd meet her later for a late lunch."

"Okay." Cat said, and waved at him as he grabbed his stuff, and soon left the theatre, leaving her alone with Robbie.

A few months ago, she would've felt uncomfortable about it, but now? Now she didn't. And she was happy about that.

She sat down on the piano bench and he went to sit beside her. He looked at her, and she bit her lip, trying not to remember her past, the tears coming to her eyes, and she looked away, looking for a distraction, she began to play the piano, at first to test it out, and then for real.

"_Like ships in the night, you keep passing me by, just wastin time, trying to prove who's right and if it all goes crashing into the sea, it's just you and me, trying find the light… like ships in the night, letting canon balls fly, say what you mean and then it turns to a fight, fist fight from my mouth as it turns south, down the driveway, I'm on the couch. Chasin' your dreams since the violent fifth grade, trying to believe in your silent own way, cause you'll be okay, watching fourteen as your way down the drain, hip hops stay the same in your arms anyway. How many of our parents seem to make it anyway? You're just fumbling through the gray, trying to find our heart, this is walking away._" She sang, and then closed her eyes getting more into the song as she did.

"_Turn the lights down low, walk these halls alone, we can feel so far, from so close." _And then she abruptly ended it, turning to looked at Robbie who had a very neutral expression on his face.

"That was beautiful." He whispered, "did you write it?"

She nodded, "Well, I didn't write it alone. Uh, Beck and I wrote it just before Bentley was born. We were having problems and—" She took a deep breath, looking down she shook her head and then lifted it to look back at her friend. She took his hand, and played with his fingers. "It doesn't matter, because that was the past, and this-this is the present and the future."

She paused for a second and then took another deep breath, "I mean, Beck has Jade now and they're—they're pretty much set for life. I—I have no one and I'm just going to accept that—" She was cut off by Robbie putting his fingers on her chin, and forcing her to look at him.

"You do have someone." He said quietly, "I mean… just look what's right in front of you."

"Look, what's—Robbie what are you talking about?" Cat asked him, tilting her head in confusion.

He looked down at their fingers, and lifted them, "is _this_ not what's in front of you?" He asked her. "Someone who cares about you—and always has."

Her eyes then filled with tears, and she let go of his hand—almost too quickly. She turned away from him and slowly stood up, going over to her bag, she busied herself with trying to get something out of it, before she felt him behind her.

"You can't hide behind Beck forever." Robbie told her, "I know you still care about him and I do know that some small part of him cares about you too, but he's with Jade now, like you said and there's no way that's going to end anytime soon."

"I wouldn't want it to." She said quietly, "I'm not upset about them."

"Then what are you afraid of?" Robbie asked her, "Someone else caring for you?"

She then stood up, her bag around her shoulder as she spun around angrily. "No!" she yelled at him, "you don't know anything!"

"Then talk to me Cat!" Robbie yelled back at her, holding her wrists he saw her wince in pain, but ignored it for the time being, loosening his tight grip on her. "You can't hide all your thoughts forever! That's a really, really bad sign."

"No!" She pulled her wrists away from him so hard, they both stumbled a bit, but regained their balance quickly. "Just leave me alone Robbie!" She wiped at her cheeks and he saw she was crying. And then just like that, she left the theatre, slamming the door on her way out, he sat on the piano bench in shock, as the door then opened again, and Andre walked in.

"Dude, what did you just say to Cat?"

"I—I…" He trailed off unsure of how to say it. "I think I just ruined everything."

"What? What are you talking about?"

Robbie was quiet for a moment staring into space, he spoke, "I told her I felt."

And then Andre understood immediately what was going on. "And I take it she turned you down?"

"No, not really. She just stood up and got upset."

"Robbie, man. Listen, Cat—she's obviously someone who's dealing with life differently then maybe the way you and I are used to. She's had a lot go on, and the _only _person who she cared about and who cared for her, doesn't anymore."

Robbie looked at him, "What are you talking about? I cared about her then, I care about her now, I'll always care about her, that's never going to change."

"I'm not talking about you."

Robbie thought it over for a moment, before realization hit him, "You're talking about Beck."

Andre nodded. "That girl has known of nothing but Beck her entire life. And I'm pretty sure the last two years she was in treatment. Beck was her best friend since I guess birth, and her first everything, boyfriend, time, love… and now that someone else is feeling those feelings for her, and _she might be as well_, it's scary to her. It's a scary thing, finding something like that out from someone else, when all along you've known of nothing different. Make sense?"

Robbie nodded, and Andre smiled a soft smile. He got up and patted his friend's back, picking his bag up, he walked out of the theatre leaving him alone.

Robbie leaned back, ignoring the noises the piano keys made and looked up, breathing heavily, he just picked up his phone, and quickly pulled up a message.

_Dude, I have something to tell you_.

And once it was sent, he got up and grabbed his backpack; he turned the light off and left the theatre, leaving the events of the last year, behind him.

**SUMMER BEFORE NINTH GRADE – CAT'S BEDROOM **

"What do you think we should name the baby?" Cat quietly asked her boyfriend who was looking up at her, he held the book of names in hands and then sighed. "Do we even know if it's a boy or a girl?"

"Well, no. But we should think of names regardless! I mean I don't want him to come out and not have a name!" He looked at her, "or _her_." She corrected herself. She then grabbed the book from him, and opened it to a few certain pages. "I've already thought of some—if you're wondering."

"Okay, shoot."

"Uhm, well, for a girl I was thinking maybe Stella or Ariana? I think those are cute. And for a boy, I was thinking of Nathan or Bentley."

"Bentley?" Beck murmured as he thought about the name. "I like that a lot."

"And for a girl?"

"Stella or Ariana?" He asked and she nodded, "I couldn't choose, both of them are really good."

"Okay." She said quietly, shutting the book, "We have the baby names picked out."

"Thank god." He said, pretending to be dramatic, and she giggled. She pulled him towards her, making him go on top of her she kissed him, sliding her tongue in his mouth she giggled when he gasped, not expecting it. "I love you." He said when they pulled apart and she kissed him again.

"I love you too." She said, quietly running her fingers through his hair.

He then sighed and lay down beside her, playing with her fingers, he looked up at the ceiling. "Courtney… do you ever wonder what it'd be like if we never met?"

"Sometimes." She said, "I mean… I know I wouldn't be pregnant right now, but… I also know that I'm happy we did. Because if we didn't, I probably wouldn't know half of what I know now."

"What do you mean?"

"I…I don't know, I mean you were my first, well, _everything_. Just like I was yours, right?" He nodded, "So, then in a way we taught each other a lot, even if they were things we probably would've learned later in life from other people."

"Like another guy for you and another girl for me?"

She nodded.

"I woudn't have wanted that." He said, "I want to be with you for the rest of my life, especially now that we're going to have a baby together."

Her eyes filled with tears as she nodded her head, biting her lip. "Do you really mean that?"

He nodded. "There's no other girl I'm interested in other than you."

"But… that might change, like later, you know." She said, taking a deep breath. "You might meet someone in like high school and then decide you want to be with them."

"I don't think so." He said, "You're mine. And I mean like you're my everything, my girlfriend, my best friend forever… _everything_ and if I lost that… I don't know what'd I'd do."

"Yeah," she said, "I wouldn't know what to do either."

She didn't have to say it for him to know she felt the same way as him, with him being her everything just like she was to him. It was like they were able to communicate silently, and that was something he didn't want to lose.

He leaned up towards her and kissed her softly. She kissed him back, and then leaned back, laying her head down—as she had a headache, she put her hands on her stomach.

"Do you think the baby will be as unpredictable as me, and cute like you?"

"I sure hope so." He said. "Otherwise, he's not our baby."

She laughed, and pulled him against her, "oh, he'll _most definitely _be our baby." She whispered before kissing him. "Ours and no one else's."

He smiled at her, "I like the sound of that."

She looked up as he lay beside her and wrapped his arms around her pulling her close to him. "I like it too." She whispered.

To be honest, she _loved _it and couldn't have been happier.

If only she had the guts to tell Beck about the drugs, and her other friends, then maybe she wouldn't feel as lousy as she did.

_Fuck_.

**PRESENT DAY **

Cat stood in her bedroom, and threw something at the wall, watching as it broke into a million pieces she threw herself on the ground and crumbled into a ball, she cried softly into her hands, and then angrily took them away from her face, she scratched her right wrist with the fingernails on her left hand, too pissed off, and feeling a little depressed, she didn't give a shit.

She kept scratching and scratching the same spot, until it started to bleed a little bit. Then she went to her bathroom, hardly able to see with her tears, and grabbed the razor. She pressed it against her wrist once, and then watched as it caused way more bleeding then before. Gasping she let it drop to the ground and held her wrist to her hand, crying and scared about what she had just done.

What was wrong with her? Hadn't the whole reason she had come back was so that she could be with her son? Or was that so she could show Beck that she was strong and what he'd done had helped her yes, but she was better enough that they could… be together? Or had she hoped that he hadn't moved on?

She didn't know what it was, her mind all jumbled into a million pieces, as she was so lost and so confused. She bit her lip so hard; she felt blood come out and quickly wiped it away.

She then felt dizzy and lightheaded suddenly and then felt herself start to feel as though she was about to pass out.

_Where and when had she felt that feeling before_?

Had she taken her medication? She wasn't sure, but what she did know was that she was too weak to get up, let alone somehow make it to the other room to grab her phone and call someone for help. She felt herself start to drift off, and that started to scare her as her breathing became more and more harder to maintain.

What was going on with her? And why the fuck did her father choose then to leave her home alone for the week?

She started to cry, panic and hyperventilate scared that she was going to die.

She didn't want to die, she really didn't.

Her hand went to her stomach and she realized, she wasn't pregnant anymore. This wasn't her life when she was fifteen and Beck was all hers, this was four years later, she was out of treatment and her son was now four years old.

She opened her eyes, her blurry vision registering the blood that was now all over her wrist and her floor, she tried to get up to clean it, but found she couldn't. So instead she just lay on the ground and closed her eyes, letting herself begin to fall deeper, she closed her eyes, and just let it happen.

Hopefully someone found her before she _never _woke up again.

Tori was on her way to Cat's house, just talk to her, and see what was up with her and Robbie and ask her why she flipped out. She got to her house and noticed it was mostly dark inside, but that there was a bit of light coming from upstairs, so she just tried the door, relieved to find it was open, and walked inside. Jade was going to be there any minute as Tori felt Jade could probably talk some sense into as her as well, so she left it open a bit, and went upstairs.

"Cat?" She called, receiving no answer from her. "Cat? CAT!" She yelled louder, still not receiving a response, she walked into her room to find it was more or less still in order, but that there was something thrown at the wall and pieces of whatever it was on the carpet. She went over to it, and then looked around for her friend only to see she was nowhere to be found.

Beck had told her she wasn't with him and Bentley, and there was nowhere else Tori could think she was, unless with Andre, but she had doubted that's where she was. Andre had some thing he had to be at with his grandmother, so she knew that definitely wasn't one of the options.

_Where the hell was she_?

She got up and was about to walk out of the room when she just happened to look down and see a small puddle of blood—and it wasn't dry at all. Her heart pounding, she got up and found that there was another just a few feet away.

_What was going on?_

She kept following them until they went into the bathroom which was shut. She pushed it, hoping it was open—relieved to find it was, and gasped upon seeing Cat on the ground her arm stretched in front of her, blood flowing from it. Her eyes were closed and she knew that she had either passed out, or just fell asleep. She had a feeling it wasn't the second option and quickly began to panic. She went over to her and began to shake her and scream her name.

"Cat! Oh my god! Cat! Wake up! Come on! Wake up!" She kept screaming receiving now response from her, she quickly grabbed her phone and called Jade.

"Hello?"

"Jade! You need to get to Cat's like right now!" Tori was talking so rapidly Jade could barely understand what she said. Tears came to her eyes as she looked at Cat and began to shake her again, once again receiving now response from her.

"What are you talking about? I'm like two seconds away." Jade said, "Calm down, what's wrong?"

"It's—it's Cat!" Tori's voice broke, "I found her upstairs in her bathroom passed out! And there's blood coming from her wrist…she won't respond to anything and—"

"Tori! Calm down!" Jade ordered even though she was now panicking and scared herself. "You need to calm down and relax and call 911 okay? I'll be right there."

Tori silently nodded and let the phone slip from her cheek into her hand as she disconnected the call with Jade, and immediately dialed 911.

And while she was halfway through the phone call, Jade had burst through the door of the bathroom and immediately fell to the floor. She grabbed Cat's head and put it on her lap as she looked at her wrist, a gasp coming from her lips.

"Shit!" She said, "She cut it way deep!"

Tori just looked at her quickly before going back to the phone call. "Yes! Yes! Okay! Thank you!" She then hung up and about two minutes later, they both heard an ambulance approaching.

"Why would she do this?" Tori asked, "I thought she was doing so much better!"

"I—I don't know." Jade said as tears came to her eyes as well, "But we'll find out." She said, "Once she wakes up, we're going to find out what the hell happened."

Tori nodded as one of the EMTs came into the room and took Cat from Jade. Cat's body was limp, almost lifeless, if it weren't for her chest moving the two girls would've thought she _really _was dead.

"Has this ever happened before?" Jade asked Tori as they stood up.

Tori nodded, "Yeah, but two years ago… Beck would know more about it than I would, but yes. It has happened before."

"So, you're saying it's not her first suicide attempt?" One of the EMTs asked Tori, having over heard their conversation and Tori shook her head.

"No." She whispered, "it's not."

"Okay." The EMT said and said something into his talkie before helping the other guy take the girl out of the house.

"Call Beck." Tori told Jade, but Jade just looked at her.

"Should he—"

"JUST CALL HIM!" Tori yelled at her and she nodded, taking her phone out, she did as she was told, and then followed Tori out of the house and into her car, they followed the ambulance all the way to the hospital.

It had been two hours and Cat _still _hadn't woken up. Robbie, Andre, Beck, Jade, and Tori were all seated in the waiting room, nervously waiting for an update, hoping to god them not getting any news immediately didn't mean she had passed away. Although that was a silly thought and they all knew it.

Cat was strong, Beck figured. Even though she had her a weak points, throughout her life, she'd shown signs of strength, sometimes more so than he did.

Tears came to his eyes as he thought of her at six years old, and how she had pretty much _saved him_.

"Beck?" Jade asked quietly as Beck just shook his head, putting his head in his hands, his body than started to shake and she _knew _he was crying. "Beck…" She whispered, and then wrapped her arms around him, tears coming to her eyes. "She'll be okay."

"You can't promise him something like that." Robbie said, speaking rudely, which was way out of character for him. "Because if you promise him something like that, then he'll go home, tell Bentley and the four year old will then look forward to seeing his mother we may or may not know is going to live through this."

"Robbie!" Tori cried, "Don't attack her!"

"Don't yell at me!" He snapped back, and then crossed his arms over his chest angrily as Beck lifted his head from Jade's shoulder and looked at him.

"Don't talk to her like that." He said, his voice still shaking. "She doesn't deserve it."

"Well, I didn't deserve to get my heart broken but that happened anyway didn't it?" Robbie shot back, his voice getting louder.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Beck demanded.

"Cat, you know… she's still in love with you! And you're too damn blind and into Jade to fucking see that!"

"No! No. Hold up!" Andre stood up, putting his hands up, he then clarified. "I never told you that! I just said she's not used to someone else caring for her as much as Beck once did!"

"All this yelling is getting us nowhere!" Tori yelled as Jade looked at them in shock.

"What?" Jade said, looking at everyone one by one. "Repeat that for me, please."

"Robbie, he cares _a lot_ for Cat," Andre began, as Robbie just shook his head and looked away. "Cat isn't used to it, because the only other person who cared for her as much as he does, was Beck."

"Okay…" Jade said, motioning for him to continue.

"And now she's freaked out by it."

"But that wouldn't be a reason for her to almost try to kill herself." Tori reasoned, "no way is it because of that."

"Maybe she just realized that Beck was gone for ever and would never come back to her." Jade spoke almost robotically. "As in, not in love with her anymore."

"Or maybe she's just scared of losing him for good! Whether in love with her or not, or just as her best friend." Tori said. "He's the only one that stood by her her _entire_ life. Who else has had someone like that other than a parent or a sibling?"

No one said anything as she knew she had a point. The only other person who could relate though was in the room, and he just shook his head, sighing.

"I don't want to lose her either." He whispered as he picked up his necklace and played with it for a moment.

"What is it with you and that necklace?" Jade asked him, "You wear it everyday, and play with it whenever you're anxious or nervous."

Tori looked up at him and he looked back at her as she _realized_ exactly what it was, she looked at Andre who then shared a look with her, knowing it as well. Robbie however was too pissed off to really give a damn.

"Why does it matter?" Beck demanded, he lifted up Jade's hand and forced her to look at the ring on it, "you have that, you play with it… what's the difference?"

"Well, yeah that's because you gave it to me and—" She stopped abruptly and looked at the ring on the necklace then at her fiancé. "Don't tell me that's—"

"What? Cat's promise ring to me?" He said, and she just stared at him. "Well, yeah it is." He shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm surprised she still wears the one I gave her."

"What?" Jade demanded, she jumped up from the chair and glared at him. "You and Cat had a promise and—"

"Yeah, we did…" Beck spoke louder, "to you know be best friends _forever_. We gave it to each other when we were like ten years old!"

Jade felt stupid, she really, really did. She thought he was going to say that they had been engaged, that they had promised to get married in the future, which would've made sense considering they had a child together.

Robbie rolled his eyes, and Tori and Andre exchanged another look. Beck had just more or less flat out lied to her.

They knew what that was for, they knew _exactly _what it meant. But why was he so damn afraid to tell Jade? Weren't her and Cat close now? Close enough to know more about Beck and Cat's past?

It wasn't in their place to tell her, and thankfully (for the most part) Robbie had kept his mouth shut and hadn't said a word otherwise then it would be over. If Beck wanted to tell her, then he would… hopefully. It was up to him.

"You're an idiot, Beck." Robbie finally said, laughing humorlessly as he shook his head. "Lying to your fiancé like that? Smooth move."

"No, Robbie! Don't!" Tori yelled telling him with her eyes that he _shouldn't _say a word. But obviously he didn't care.

"He has his engagement ring around his neck." Robbie told Jade who just looked at him an unreadable expression on her face. "From Cat."

"Why the fuck did you do that?" Tori yelled at him, slapping him as he just looked at her. "That wasn't in your place, not _at all_."

"You—you and Cat were engaged to be married?" Jade said, and Beck didn't look at her, but nodded his head regardless. "And you just _lied _to me about it? What the hell Beck?"

"Fine. Since Robbie doesn't know everyfuckingthing this is the _real_ truth that Cat and I kept to ourselves. Yes, we did give that to each other when we were ten, and yes it was sort of like an engagement ring, but the truth is, at ten years old we thought we were going to get married, so… we would wear them. Then when she got pregnant, I asked her to marry me with the old ring, which she thought she had lost in the move, and there you go. Now we wear it as a symbol of our friendship, just like it was _always_ meant to mean."

"No, no." Jade said, her tone uneven, "I _totally _understand. It makes sense you know, that she'd feel the way she does."

"What does this even have to do with what I just said?" Beck demanded, but she held her hand up, and ignored him.

"I—I get it." She repeated as Tori and Andre looked at each other. "Really, I do."

"Get what?" Now Beck was becoming impatient and she could see it.

"She's Bentley's mother and you're Bentley's father. You two totally deserve each—each other."

"Jade, what difference does that make? We haven't dated in two years! She left to get help. She came back, and still clearly needs it, why are you acting this way?"

She looked away and he looked at her closely, "why are you acting so insecure?"

"I'm not insecure, I just—what?" Jade asked when Beck's expression suddenly changed to one of realization.

"Beck?" Tori said quietly as she too had noticed.

"I—I know why Cat did this," He said, "I mean it's not for the reason we all think—" He made sure to pointedly look at Jade, "it is."

Jade threw her hands in the air exasperated, "Okay, then what's the reason?"

"She felt alone," He said speaking quietly himself. "And when she feels lonely… she hurts herself."

"Why would she feel lonely? She has all of us, and she's back in Bentley's life so… what do you think caused it?"

"That I don't know the answer to, the only person who knows that is Cat," Beck responded, looking longingly down the hall.

"But she's asleep." Andre reminded him.

Beck shrugged, "So we'll just have to wait."

Jade pressed her hands to her eyes, and then quickly grabbed her things, she then stormed out of the waiting room, Andre looked at Beck, "Are you going to go after her?"

Beck sighed, he leaned his head down for a moment, and then got up and followed her, only to find her leaning against the wall outside the waiting room, her back pressed against it, her eyes shut tight. He stood by the door, waiting for her to realize he was there.

"Leave me alone." She said quietly, but he shook his head.

"No, I don't think I will." But he still stayed where he was.

"Why won't you?" She asked, her voice breaking as he walked over to her and stood in front of her. He leaned forward, trapping her on both sides with his hands, he leaned forward and kissed her lips softly.

"That's why."

She opened her eyes and looked at him as he moved to her side and leaned against the wall. He picked up her hand, and looked at the ring, as she just stared at him, silent.

"Jade, I know it's probably hard for you... being here knowing that my first girlfriend and the mother of my child is in the other room laying there unconscious, but you have to understand something. While yeah she was my first girlfriend and my first love and all that… it's all over. She had to get help for her problems, and while she was away, I met you and all that changed. I love you, okay? _You_. As you should be able to see with this ring I gave you… I wouldn't have given it to you for any other reason."

"I know but—" She looked away from him for a moment and sighed, "I just can't help but get jealous, I mean you both had this amazing relationship and then I came along and just—"

"It's still there," he said, "you didn't ruin anything if that's what you're getting at. The only difference is we don't love each other like that anymore. We love each other as more best friends—just like we've always been, from the very beginning. She knows that, and I know that." He looked right at her, turning her head so that she faced him, and not that wall across from them, "And now I just want _you _to know that."

"I guess I'm starting to." She shrugged, and he nodded taking that as an acceptable answer, for now. "But it doesn't change that I'm still so worried about her."

"I know," He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her towards him kissing the top of her head. "We all are."

"Yeah, but I've—well never had a sister before, and knowing that she's in there is… well, it hurts, a lot."

"I know—wait, sister?"

Jade nodded, "yeah, well, she's my stepsister…" she paused for a second as Beck stared at her dumbfounded, although she couldn't understand why. "my mother is married to her father."

"You mean the mother you never speak to?" She nodded, "And the same woman that has made Cat's life miserable since they met." Jade was now looking at him dumbfounded. "I mean no offense, but she doesn't really get along with Cat."

"I know." Jade finally said, "I mean… I saw it happen the other day when I found out she was my stepsister."

"You did?"

She nodded.

"And you didn't say anything?"

"Oh, no I did."

He sighed and leaned back, looking at the ceiling. "Do you think she'll ever be okay?" He asked, his voice quiet as he looked at her.

She looked back at him, and bit her lip, shrugging her shoulders, she told him the only answer she could think of, "I don't know."

"You know… she wasn't always like that," He said, "She was actually happy at one point in her life."

Jade nodded, "I bet she was," She said running her fingers through his hair. "And who knows? Maybe you were the happiest part of her life for a while."

Beck was silent as he thought about what she said, "Yeah, maybe you're right.. maybe I was."

"No." Jade said, "You still _are_."

"What do you mean?"

Jade shrugged, "you mean you don't know?"

Beck was silent as he thought about it, realizing she did have a point. There was a time when Cat Valentine was happy, and had once told him it was because of him. He sighed as tears came to his eyes, and looked up. It was until Jade had hugged him had a realized a tear had fallen from his eye down to her hair, disappearing forever.

**FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN – STRATFORD, CANADA **

"Wake up! Wake up!" The little boy opened his eyes to see his best friend was jumping up and down on his bed excitedly. Her hair was all messed up, her violet eyes big as she looked at him, a huge smile on her face. He groaned and rolled over as she stopped bouncing and looked at him, tilting her head to the side. She leaned over and poked him, causing him to jump and looked at her, a sort of irritated look on his face. She smiled at him sweetly and leaned in close to him, her face about an inch from his. "It's the first day of school!" She shouted and his eyes opened wide as he playfully pushed her off him and to the side where she fell, bouncing a bit before lifting herself up and glaring at him, "that wasn't funny!"

"Yes it was," He told her laughing as she rolled her eyes and got up running downstairs, he sighed and ran after her nearly crashing into her as they reached the kitchen sliding a bit on the just recently waxed floor.

"Oh!" His mother said, lifting a big plate of French toast—their favorite—and put it on the table. The five year old and four year old quickly sat at the table and began to eat while his mother brought them their orange juice.

"Courtney?"

She looked up and chewed her food slowly before swallowing it, "Yeah, Beck?"

"I'm glad you're here." He smiled at her and she smiled back.

"Me too," She whispered, and then continued to eat her food. Then it was time for them to leave for their first day of kindergarten.

She was scared, scared to _death_. But since her "bestest" friend would be in her class, she didn't really fear as much fear as she did before.

They got into Beck's mom's car and drove to the school. She walked them into the classroom—which she was grateful for—and stayed until they were ready for her to leave.

And it didn't look like that'd be happening anytime soon.

Beck suddenly got scared, and held his mother's hand tightly, while she just looked back at him, tears filling her eyes as she realized she didn't have a parent with her with a hand to hold like he did. Her big violet eyes filled with tears, and she ran past them into the playground ignoring the looks of the other students as they went past her.

It wasn't long before Beck and his mother came outside, going over to her.

"What's the matter, sweetie." His mother spoke gently as she rubbed her back. "Why are you upset?"

"It's not fair!" She sort of half-whined, half-cried, "Beck has his mommy here and—and I have no one!"

"That's not true," She said, looking at her a smile on her face, "I'm right here for you, I wont leave until you two are ready."

"Yeah," Beck spoke even though he was sucking on his thumb. "And I'm here too. Just like—like you're here for me."

She lifted her head and looked at him, "Do you really mean that?"

He nodded his head, and took his thumb out of his mouth, with his other hand he reached for her hand, and held it tight. "I'm not gonna go anywhere."

She looked down at their hands, and then back up at Beck's mother, "Is that okay?" She asked, and his mother laughed gently.

"Of course it is sweetie," She kissed both of their heads, and Cat turned to Beck, sniffling she wiped her nose.

"We have to be brave," She whispered, "Because if we're not then all we're gonna be is scaredy cats."

Beck made a face. "I don't want to be ascared!"

"Then we have to be brave!" Cat told him, "Otherwise they're gonna think we're ascared."

"Well, we're not," He spoke firmly—well as firm as a five year old could get. "Because we have each other and they don't."

She smiled, "Okay," She said, and then leaned over, still holding his hand kissed his cheek gently.

He looked at her and made a face, but she saw the smile underneath it. And then she ran her fingers through her blonde-brown hair, and pulled him with her towards the class. She went up to the teacher, and smiled big.

"I'm Courtney! And this is my bestest friend Beck! You can't take him from me because then we'll both be ascared and we don't want that," She shook her head while Beck's mother laughed, and leaned down to kiss her head again.

"Trust me, I don't think she'll do that," She told her and their teacher smiled at them.

"Well, Courtney," She said, "You make a pretty good argument."

"Thank you? I think." She said and then Beck laughed.

"Beck, is she you're best friend?"

He nodded eagerly. "Yeah!"

"How about we go to the carpet and I'll read you and the rest of the kids a story, would you like that?"

Beck nodded, but Cat looked deep in thought for a moment, "Wait!" She said, and they looked at each other. "Will I get to color later?"

Her teacher gave her a smile, "Of course you will."

The little girl's face lit up and she nodded, "Okay! Come on Beck! Let's go to the carpet… the magic—magic carpet!" She said, once again her over active imagination getting to her. "We'll pretend like we're flying… like Aladdin and Jasmine!"

Beck's eyes widened, "Yeah! Yeah! Let's go!" He said and ran after her as she giggled, letting go of his hand.

Beck's mother turned to their teacher, "You know, you have to keep a good eye on those two."

"Oh really? Why's that?"

"For starters, Courtney's got a rough home life, and if Beck isn't around her, she'll get very withdrawn and won't really talk to you much at all, but if he's with her, she's just a chatterbox! She was afraid of coming here before, as you saw, and somehow—somehow he was able to convince her to go inside."

"Oh wow," She said, "That's one good friendship."

"Yeah," Beck's mother smiled, "I don't think he'll ever let her go. And I don't think she'll ever let him go either."

The two of them watched as Beck sat down and Cat sat on his lap, laughing when he fell backwards, but then they were both able to stay still—which was a _huge_ accomplishment on her part since she had trouble sitting still in most cases—and pay attention to the teacher's aide who was speaking to the small group.

"You know, I think they'll both be okay."

"I think so too."

**PRESENT DAY **

Beck slowly approached the hospital bed, having sent everyone home—including Jade—he decided to go into the room and see if he could talk to her, get her to tell him what the hell happened.

He was pretty sure he had a good idea, though. But he still wanted to talk to her about it, whether he was right or wrong.

"Hey…" He said quietly, looking at his best friend who was silently resting, her eyes closed, her skin pale, a huge white bandage was wrapped around her wrist, her chest rising up and down letting him know she was in fact—alive.

"I don't get it, Courtney," he said, "Why are you back in the hospital again? You were trying to kill yourself? Wasn't what those two years of treatment was all about? So that you could get better? I mean… don't you want to be in Bentley's life? He's _your son_, just as much as he's mine and he _loves_ you. Now that you're back in his life, he doesn't want you to leave again, you know? Just like I wouldn't." He looked up at the ceiling, feeling tears come to his eyes, and then looked back down, he took a seat and leaned forward a bit, clasping his hands together, he looked at them, "you know, we're all worried about you. Tori, Andre, Me… Jade. Jade said she was scared to death when she saw you, and Tori? Man… she was so upset. Why would you do this to yourself?" He stopped as he felt a tear slide down his cheek.

"You're my best friend, the best friend I've _ever _had. The only best friend I've ever had… you've been there for me since day one, as I have for you. And… if something happened to you… I don't know. I couldn't handle it." He reached forward, and took her hand, playing with her fingers he thought of a time when he could do that, and not worry about her bursting into tears or anything like that… back when they were children.

"Bentley doesn't know what happened today, I don't think I'm going to tell him, he won't understand it anyway… but please, Courtney…" His voice sounded pained, as he continued to talk. "You have to wake up. Bentley can't live with out you—you're his mother. Tori can't, Andre can't, I don't know about Robbie since he's upset you broke his heart and all, whatever that means, and Jade—Jade loves you. You're her stepsister, I found that out today by the way… and she would be devastated if something were to happen to you. She was lucky though, she didn't see you at your worst, luckily only I have… but uhm, yeah. No one can live without you, you're like a shining star in everyone's life, whether or not you have problems, they don't matter and I know you think that too."

He paused for a second looking at her hand, and noticed her fingers moved a bit in his hand. He took a deep breath, and then looked her face, noticing her eyes fluttered open for a second, before they opened for real and he felt her squeeze his hand back.

"Say it," Was the first thing she said in a raspier than usual voice. She coughed for a second, before looking at him. "Please…" She whispered, "Say it."

"Say what?" He asked her just as quietly.

"You know what."

He shook his head and shrugged, confused. "I—have now idea what you're talking about."

"You said everyone else can't live without me," She told him, "but you didn't say anything about _you_."

He took a deep breath, and looked right at her, as recognition flashed through his eyes, "I could _never_ live without you," He said, "You're my best friend… if I lost you then, then I don't know what I'd do."

She smiled, weakly, but it was still a smile, "I couldn't either."

It was quiet and her smile faded away, but she knew he was going to ask her sooner or later, so she just… said it. "I was lonely," She whispered. "For the first time since getting out of treatment, I realized I couldn't just go to your house whenever I wanted to, and tell you what was on my mind. It scared me, but yeah. It happened a few times in treatment too, but… that's a whole other story. The nurses and doctors caught me before I could do anything, but one time they didn't and—" She shook her head. "It doesn't matter, what matters is, I was scared, vulnerable and alone. And that's why I cut—myself."

"Cat," He choked on her name as he brought his hand to her cheek. "Don't _ever_ feel like you can't come talk to me."

"It's hard now." She said, "Jade's in your life, and honestly I couldn't be happier for you both, because you're perfect for each other, but… sometimes I just want my friend back, my _best_ friend. The guy I grew up with who I could go visit whenever I wanted to."

"I'm still that guy, Cat. But now you have to call me, or text me. I can't just have you randomly showing up anymore."

Cat nodded biting her lip as tears came to her eyes. "I know, that's why—that's why I was so upset." She took a deep breath, "that's—that's why I cut myself."

"You can't," He whispered, "You can't do that anymore."

"You don't think I haven't tried?" She snapped without meaning to. "It's hard to refrain from something when you feel like you've lost everything."

"You haven't lost anything! I'm still in your life, as are Tori, Robbie, Andre, and Jade! My mother still loves you and Bentley? Man that kid won't stop talking about you. He's your son, and he knows that. He loves you just as much as you do, maybe even more."

"But he loves Jade the most," She pointed out. "She was there the last two years of his life."

"But you were there when he was born," Beck reminded her. "If you feel like she's replacing you—don't feel like that, she's not."

"I know, it's just something I feel sometimes, I can't help it."

He nodded, "Okay." It was silent for a few moments, before Cat looked at him.

"Is Robbie really pissed at me?"

Beck nodded for a moment, but instead said, "he's just upset and hurt… I think you should talk to him."

Cat nodded, "Yeah, that's—that's gonna be the first thing I do when I get out of here."

He smiled, "Good." He said, and then rubbed her hand. "Just please, don't forget, don't lose sight of _us_. Our friendship, you're always going to be my best friend, not matter what happens, okay?"

She nodded, "Okay. I'll—I'll do my best."

He sighed, knowing that was all he was going to get—for now. "Okay," He whispered. "Okay."

Later that night, he picked up Jade, the car ride silent and remaining that way until they got to his bedroom. Jade leaned against the closed door for a moment, and then got off of it, she looked at him, as he sat on his bed, his back against the pillows.

"I know you have a lot on your mind," She whispered, from the door.

"Yeah." He said, "But don't worry… it'll go away soon, I hope."

"Babe…" She began, going over to him; she sat beside him on hand over his stomach on the other side. "You can't just _not _worry about her, she's your best friend."

"I know, it's just… I'm worried she'll end up in recovery again. She was doing so well, up until…"

"Up until tonight, I know." She said, "But who knows? Maybe she'll realize what she's doing and turn herself around. You just can't lose sight of everything, you've been her best friend since birth, I'm understanding, correct?" He nodded. "Then be there for her, just like you were tonight."

"I know, I know." He sighed, "I don't want to talk about this anymore," He looked at her, and she nodded leaning forward, she put her other hand on his cheek, and pulled him to her, kissing his lips gently. He put one hand on the back of her head, tangling his fingers in her hair, she pressed his lips against hers harder and deepened it as she kissed him with just as much intensity.

He lifted himself from the pillows and gently pushed her on her back, causing her to wrap her arms around his neck, and his hands to go up and down her sides, lifting her shirt a bit, she laughed against his lips, causing him to smile. Then he laid against her, and without his mouth leaving hers, unbuttoned her jeans, she moaned against his mouth and he slid them down a bit along with her underwear, and touched her causing her to arch her back against him.

He knew that he shouldn't really do this, but he couldn't help it. His emotions weren't make much sense and Jade was the only person he knew of who could help him.

Other than—no. He wasn't going to go down that road. They were _over_, long over. He had to get what they had out of his mind and just focus on his fiancé… which he found was actually pretty easy.

"B-Beck…" She moaned against his mouth trying to move away, but he shook his head, pressing his lips against hers again.

Pretty soon their clothes were off, and he was inside her, pressing against her as deep as he could, his mouth never leaving hers. She didn't move away anymore, just kept him as close to her as she could, while he continued to move inside her.

"Beck, Beck.. I'm gonna…" he nodded his head, letting her know he was close too. He moved against her faster and faster kissing her deeper and deeper as she moved with him, kissing him back until they both finished, and moved away from each other panting heavily.

"I love you," He looked at her, and she smiled, kissing his lips gently.

"I love you too."

"Good." He said, "Please… don't ever forget that," he told her wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close to him.

"I won't." She whispered back, "I won't _ever_ forget it."

The next day, Cat was released from the hospital around noon—much to her surprise. Beck wasn't there as he had told Andre and Tori he and Jade had something to do that day. She was a bit disappointed, but got over it once she remembered what she had to do that day.

"Now, remember to _please_ take your medication," Her doctor was saying and she nodded her head. "I want you to come back here for group therapy on Friday, okay? That's two days away. It'll be really good for you."

"Okay," She whispered, "I'll be there."

"Good," Her doctor smiled at her and then checked everything one last time, "You're all set." She turned to Tori and Andre, "Keep an eye on her, make sure she isn't out of your sight for two long… in cases like these we sometimes have to "babysit" them to make sure they don't get off track again."

"I understand," Tori nodded her head firmly, while Cat just rolled her eyes, annoyed that she was being treated like a baby. But then again, she sort of deserved it, she supposed.

"Don't worry, Doc. We won't let her out of our sight." Andre promised.

Her doctor smiled, "That's what I like to hear." She told him, and then with one last smile she left the hospital room.

"Finally!" Cat breathed, "Okay, uhm… I know I'm not supposed to leave anyone's sight, but I need to do something."

"And what's that?" Tori asked as Andre got her bag, helping her off the hospital bed as she was still a bit light headed from all the blood she lost. She sat down in the wheelchair that was there—a stupid hospital rule—and as they wheeled her out of the front to where Andre's car was waiting she looked at her friend.

"I need to talk to Robbie." She said, "Like, now."

"Is this about his outburst yesterday?" Tori asked her, and she looked at her confused.

"What outburst?"

"Nevermind." Tori said, "We'll take you to him, if that's what you want."

"Yeah," She whispered, "That's what I want."

"Okay." Andre said, "Then sit tight Little Red, we're going straight there."

"Awesome!" She cheered and Tori laughed.

About ten minutes later, Tori and Andre were in the car, and she was standing in front of it, slowly walking up the pathway to his front door. Andre and Tori had filled her in on what had happened yesterday, so she was even more determined to talk to him even _more_, now that she knew more of what happened, other than what she was told about from Beck.

She knocked on the door and composed herself. She kept reminding herself that this wasn't Beck anymore, that this wasn't a life-long best friend who you were telling your feelings to (she remembered that moment so vividly and it just made her laugh how young she was at the time). She vaguely remembered Robbie caring about her _a lot_ before she'd gone to treatment and how he'd helped her at school when she'd broken down, both before and after.

And when they were rehearsing and just goofing around yesterday? She didn't remember ever feeling happier other than when she was with Beck. But it was a different kind of happy… she couldn't quite explain it, but it made her feel _good_, _special_ even.

The door opened, and a young woman, maybe in her early twenties stood there, her eyes wide. "Cat?"

"Uh, yeah. Hi, Stephanie, it's me." She waved kind of hesitantly until the older girl wrapped her in a hug.

"I'm so glad to see you're okay!" She said, "I heard you were back, but then I heard you were in the hospital last night… what happened?"

"Its—it's a long story." Cat said, feeling somewhat ashamed, "But let's just say I'm under twenty four hour suicide watch."

"Which might not be such a bad thing," Stephanie pointed out.

"I know…" Cat ran her fingers through her hair, "I know it's just…hard, is all. Uhm, anyway, is Robbie here?"

Stephanie smiled at her, "He is." She told her, "just come inside, okay? I'll go get him." Cat nodded and did as she was told, stepping inside she turned around for a second to see Andre and Tori give her the thumbs up. She sighed, still a bit anxious, be really secure and sure with what she was about to do.

"Who's at the—" She heard Robbie say until he turned and saw her standing there. He said nothing, just crossed his arms over his chest, and sort of more or less glared at her.

"Uhm, can we go somewhere?" Cat asked him, sort of feeling insecure. "So we can talk, privately?"

He nodded, "Sure thing, whatever you say." His voice was monotone and it made her even more anxious. He led her up to his bedroom and closed the door while she slowly sat down. First she looked down at her hands, playing with her fingers, she looked around noticing he had a guitar in the corner of his room.

"You still have that?" She asked him and he nodded.

"Of course, it's my baby. I never play without it."

"That's cool." She said and then there was an awkward silence.

Too bad Robbie was impatient and broke it a second later. "What's the real reason you came here Cat? To tell me off? To tell me you don't like me, don't want to be my friend anymore… what?"

"Actually, it's the opposite." She said, looking up at him and he looked at her, both confused and kind of angry still.

"You're not making any sense!" He said, "I mean, yesterday you were flirty and we were cool and having fun and shit, and then you get all pissy with me the second I tell you how I feel about you, and then you end up in the hospital because you miss Beck? Come on, Cat! What's going on?"

"Okay, first." Cat spoke firmly and somewhat with an authorative tone as she stood up, her hand up. "Stop assuming things before you get to hear the damn story."

"Then by all means, tell me the story." He said, leaning against his desk.

"I did what I did yesterday and freaked out because I was lonely and scared, and the only other person who could help me with that was Beck." She said, but before he could speak, she continued, "And knowing that was just scary to me… and so was knowing he couldn't be that person I run to whenever I was feeling that way anymore."

"Where are you going with this?"

"Just let me finish." Cat told him and he nodded. "I talked to Beck yesterday and… I realized that even though throughout my whole life I relied on him, I couldn't do it anymore… not as much anyway because now he has Jade in his life." She looked down playing with her fingers for a moment before she looked back up again.

"And I have someone else too."

Recognition passed over Robbie as he straightened himself up and looked at her, looking like he wanted to say something, but really couldn't figure out what it was he wanted to voice.

She walked over to him, and took his hands in hers, holding them as tight as she could—which was difficult with her bandage—she looked up at the much taller boy. "you were right yesterday, that I had to stop hiding behind Beck…" She whispered, "And I'm going to, starting now."

"You are? But how—I mean, you can't just feel like you have to stop so suddenly because of something I said."

"Robbie… you've been there for me since I've gotten back and even before I left. I was just… too blind and stupid to see it. Yeah I was with Beck before I left, and yeah I was in love with him and he'll _always_ be my first love just like I am his, but now he has Jade," She repeated, "He's moved on, and I couldn't be more happier for him… for them both."

"Wait," Robbie said, shaking his head, while Cat just stared at him. "I'm confused." She let go of his hands, and turned away, her hands swung back and forth as she turned back to him and put a strand of her red hair behind her ear.

"I—I don't know what I'm trying to say," She whispered. "I mean, a second ago, this was so easy, and now? Now it's not."

"What was so easy?"

She was silent.

"Cat! What was so easy?" Robbie asked her, his voice getting louder.

"Telling you- telling you that I—" She stopped, cutting herself off. She looked at him her expression serious and sad. After a few moments she shook her head. "I—I can't do it."

"Can't do what?" Now Robbie was getting exasperated, and really he had the right to be as she was being a bit hedgy. "What aren't you telling me?"

He stared at her hard, and she stared back at him. Instead of going to say what she was, she just looked down, her eyes going up to him, and stepped closer.

"Cat—what are you doing?"

"You know," She said, suddenly becoming confident again. "I could show you, better than I could tell you."

Robbie stared at her, his eyebrow went up, and she grabbed his shirt, pulling him loser to her until they were an inch apart, and then without another word, she pushed herself forward and brushed her lips against his lightly, before pressing her lips against his more, kissing him gently. She broke the kiss a moment later, and closed her eyes.

Their _first ever _kiss—and it was amazing.

Robbie looked at her for a moment and then pulled her towards him, kissing her softly, he put his fingers in her hair, and pulled her as close as he could deepening it while she put her hand on his cheek, kissing him back.

She then broke it, putting her hand on his cheek, and smiled at him. Biting her lip, she stepped away, and walked to his door. He smiled back at her, and she waved goodbye, while he waved back at her, and then she left his room, leaning against the wall, she let out a squeal, and then as quickly as she could, went downstairs, and out his front door, waving a quick goodbye at Stephanie, she got to the car where Tori was smiling at her, and Andre was smirking.

"Everything okay?" Tori asked her.

She giggled again, and then sat back in her seat. She turned her head to the side, and smiled, "Yeah..." She said, "Everything… everything is just fine."

_Uh-oh, bad Beck for using Jade to make himself feel, well something. And yay for Cat and Robbie! _

_Hope you enjoyed it! Writing the next chapter as I post this. Xoxo! _


	10. Chapter 10

_Drama! Uh, Cat and Robbie's issues will be addressed later, just saying. _

_I don't own anything, by the way. Or the song I used last chapter._

"Well, here we are," Andre said pulling up to the front of Cat's house. "Now, listen for a sec. Tori's going to stay with you for a while, since I have to go stay with my grandma for a bit, okay? After a few hours, I'll come back… sound good?"

Cat nodded, but was silent, which was a major change from the happily bubbly person she was just moments before.

She pulled at her sleeves and covered her wrists best she could, and then ran her fingers through her hair.

"Okay," She whispered in her raspy voice. "Let's go inside."

Tori just looked Andre who looked back at her, and then got up, following Cat up to the front of the house. She then realized she didn't have her keys, and knocked on the door.

The door opened, and her father stood on the other end. "Oh, its about time you got home."

Cat didn't say anything, just rushed past him with Tori behind her.

"I'm talking to you!" They heard her father call after her, "Don't walk away from me!"

Cat suddenly turned around, causing Tori to back up a few steps, she had tears in her eyes, and looked like she was on the verge of another breakdown. Which was really the last thing she needed right now.

"Oh, now you want to talk to me? What about all those times I tried to talk to you?"

Her father however, ignored her. "Why was there blood on your carpet and all over your bathroom floor?" He demanded. "I come home, after a long day of work to show some of my associates this house that I pay tons of money for, only to show them your bedroom and for them to assume I'm a murder on the side! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"No, dad. What's wrong with you? You haven't been in my bedroom the past two months I've been here! How do you think that makes me feel?" Cat demanded, "any other father would've tried to figure out where their daughter was, but instead you just wait til I show up, right?" He said nothing, so she continued. "I was at the hospital! You know why? Because I felt lonely, and scared and… depressed! I tried to cut myself because of you! And how you constantly make me feel everyday!"

Her father instead, waved it off as if it was nothing, which actually pissed off Tori.

"You don't care about me, okay? And I know that. I'm your only fucking child and you rather I didn't exist for whatever reason you may have, but here's the thing. I do exist. And you allowed me to go away for a year to a facility that was supposed to help me, and then another year in Stratford to stay with your sister so you didn't have to deal with me. Is it easier just pretending I was never born?"

"Oh, Courtney, stop being so dramatic." Her father ordered, and she just bit her lip, looking away for a moment, before she looked back at him.

"You have a grandson." She said, "A living, breathing four year old grandson who I bet you didn't bother to visit or see or even contact in the past two years I was away! You told me once that you wished I were born a boy so I could grow up to be just like you! Well, here dad. I gave you what you wanted… in a sense. But here's the difference," She paused a moment, as her stepmother walked in and joined them. "He's _never_ ever, EVER going to be like _you_."

And then she gave him the dirtiest look Tori had ever seen her give anyone.

"You don't ever speak to your father that way!" Her stepmother spoke up, but she sounded just… out of the loop and not even in sync with what had just transpired.

Her father turned away, and without a word walked into the other room. Cat angrily stared at her stepmother until she too left, and then went upstairs, Tori behind her.

Tori walked inside her bedroom and Cat angrily slammed it, hitting her hand against the door she leaned against it, and just stared at it.

"Cat—I don't think that's such a good idea, with your wrist and all." Tori told her, but shut up once her friend turned around and all she was able to see was the glare that came from her.

"He's a fucking joke!" Cat nearly yelled, "All he cares about is his precious gold digging whore of a wife, and his job, and all that, but not _me_! I'm his only child! I'm his fucking daughter and all he wants to do is ignore me! What kind of person does that Tori? What kind of person acts like they never—like… " She trailed off, her hands covering her face as she quietly sobbed, her eyes filling with tears. She shook her head and bit her lip looking down. "I could never do that to my son." She whimpered and Tori wrapped her arm around the younger girl.

"I know you couldn't." She said, "That's why Bentley loves you so much. You were gone two years, and made _sure _you saw him as soon as you were ready to. That's the difference in between you and your father, you'll always be right, he won't ever be."

"I don't have a mother," Cat said, looking at her, "I just didn't think I'd never have a father too."

Tori rubbed her arm comfortingly. "Not may people do," She said quietly, and Cat just leaned her head against her shoulder, crying softly as she continued to comfort her.

She was such a lost girl, and it broke Tori's heart to see anyone contribute to her pain.

If only there was something she could do to change it, then maybe, just maybe, Cat wouldn't be so lost anymore.

Beck sat alone in his bedroom, on his bed. Jade had offered to take Bentley to get some frozen yogurt, and he was okay with that, since she need to spend some time alone with him and he just wanted… well alone time.

He thought about when he was around Bentley's age, maybe two years older, and how he'd been afraid to go on an adventure with Cat and their two friends, Noah and Wilder.

The thing with Cat—is her whole life she'd always been a bit reckless. Always a bit unpredictable. Coming from a home where your father neglected you in favor of his new wife, and where your mother wasn't there, he kind of more or less understood. She always _loved_ to try new things (unless it was food related as she was and always would be picky) and would try to do things that were, well dangerous.

Not far from where they lived, there traintracks, and trains frequently passed by it day after day after day. Thinking back, he remembered that she had almost (and was also very nearly successful) killed herself that day.

But he did remember something she said, so vividly. "You have to be brave, because if you're just afraid then everyone's going to make fun of you for it, and then you'll be known as a scaredy—cat." And then she giggled because her nickname was in the word, but that's a whole other story for another time.

As she'd gotten older, that little sentiment constantly changed, into something more mature. But what he found interesting; was as many times as she told him not to be afraid, she realized… she really was fearless. For the most part, almost totally fearless.

_Almost _being the key word. She was scared in some things, like the first time they had sex for example. She wasn't afraid of the whole having sex thing, she was just afraid it was going to hurt.

Which was why everytime they were close to doing it, she'd stop him… until finally it just… happened.

The one thing he knew she was afraid of; definitely was going home. She hated to go home because she knew that she'd just be ignored.

And that hurt him, so, so much that a sweet and innocent girl like her would be constantly a target at her own fucking home.

But last night… when she'd gone to the hospital because she'd cut herself… that really, really scared him. And even though Cat constantly told him to be brave, he found that last night… it was really difficult for him. Almost like when it'd happened two years before. He was scared, scared to death she was going to die and he'd lose her forever.

And then when she'd told him how she felt lonely and scared because she couldn't go see him anymore like she used to be able to, it just broke his heart even more… not that he'd really let her see it. He was good at hiding things, almost as good as she was, and that was one of them.

He hoped she knew he'd always be there for her, just like always as he'd always known she would be as well.

Sighing, he got up, and picked up his phone. He pressed the phone icon and put it against his ear, waiting for the girl on the other end to pick up.

"H-hello?" He heard sniffling.

"Court? Are you crying? What's the matter?" He asked her and she heard her sniffle again before shakily responding.

"My father… he uhm, he's a jerk."

"Well, we always knew that."

"Did you know he didn't even care I was in the hospital last night? He was more worried about the damn blood in the carpet and bathroom then about my own well being." She paused for a second and then continued, "I hate him so much."

"I know you do," Beck said gently. "I've been hearing that for ages now."

"I know I just… I think if my mother were alive, it'd be so different." She whispered, "I feel like he'd actually be… well likable."

"Or maybe not. Maybe he's just a depressed, sour human being."

"I doubt that, but eh, maybe you're right."

Beck smiled, loving that he could still hear her Canadian accent, even though it'd been a while since he'd been back there.

"I love you, Cat." He said, "I mean, well, you know…"

"Beck…" She said, her voice was quiet, almost as though she was going to cry but not there yet. "One four three."

He smiled, "One four three," He responded happy she remembered their little… well, code. "Forever."

"Forever." She responded, and then it was silent, he thought she hung up on him, but she spoke again. "How's Bentley?"

"He's good, wants to see you though."

"I'll probably come by soon…" She said, "I'll bring him something though, apologize for not showing up last night."

"No need to. I just explained that you weren't feeling well," He said, "He understands it, more or less."

"Okay." She finally said. "Uhm, Tori wants me to go shower, and she like, really doesn't want to leave me in the bathroom by myself, so I'll talk to you later?"

"Yeah," Beck said, "We'll talk later."

"Okay, bye."

He hung up without saying it back, and just threw the phone on his bed. He laid on top of it himself, and got comfortable, closing his eyes.

He needed to sleep, and that's _exactly _what he was going to do.

**SUMMER BEFORE NINTH GRADE – BECK'S BEDROOM **

He was taking a nap, or was trying to anyway, when his girlfriend literally burst through the door to his room, holding what looked like a box in her hands. What caused him to wake up though was the fact that she was holding a _heavy _looking box while _pregnant_.

"Are you insane?" He jumped out of the bed, going to help her. "You can't be carrying these things!"

"Beck, I'm pregnant, not crippled, I'm fine."

"Hell no! Not when you're six months pregnant with my child you're not!"

"Oh, stop being a baby!" She rolled her eyes, and pointed at the box. "I have something in there I want to look at with you," She spoke quietly so he knew it was a pretty serious thing.

"Okay, well, what is it?"

"Uhm…well, okay. You're going to yell at me again," She began and he sighed, rolling his eyes, but she continued anyway. "I was in the attic, and I was looking for some like old things that maybe I could give to the baby when it comes… and I came across this box." She pointed at it again, "It has a bunch of scrapbook looking things in it, and… uhm, I think it might be my mother's things."

He looked at the box in his arms, and put it on the bed, running his hands over it. "Do you want to open it and find out?" She nodded so he picked it up again and put it on the ground where they both sat, and opened it, beginning to go through it. "Wait!" He said, and she looked at him. He got up and sat behind her, motioning for her to sit on his lap—which she did—and wrapped his arms around her. She turned around to kiss him for a moment before putting her hand back in the box and pulling something out of it.

"It's box." She said, her hand tracing the front of it, and… it's long."

"That's what she said…" He cracked and she playfully smacked him.

"You are such a perv sometimes!" She rolled her eyes and slowly opened it, taking out the necklace that was inside, her hand going to the locket. "What's this?" She asked putting the box on the ground while Beck watched as a piece of paper fell from it onto the ground.

"Uh, Courtney…" He said, and picked it up handing it to her.

"What? Oh…" She slowly opened the aged paper and began to read it. "_For my daughter when she turns sixteen… I want her to have this locket._" She began to read, and then continued. "_Dear Courtney, happy sixteenth birthday honey! I can't believe you're so grown up! I just want you to know, that even though I won't be there, I want you to remember me as someone who loved you very much and was so excited you were going to be born! I mean, once I found out I was having a girl, I threw a party! Honestly, ask your father_." She laughed humorously and shook her head. "Yeah right," And then continued to read the letter some more, "_I just want you to always remember that I'll always been in your heart and this locket proves that. I love you more than you will ever know, sweetie. Happy sweet sixteen, I hope it's amazing and everything you've ever dreamed it would be. Love, mom xoxo_." Cat hadn't realized it, but she had tears streaming down her cheeks by the end of the note, and looked at Beck. "She—she wrote me a note… she had to know—she had to know she wasn't going to live long enough and—and wrote this!"

"Yeah…I know," He said, and she turned her head to his shoulder, she held onto his hand tight, and squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to break into full blown tears.

"Th—that means my father—he's been lying to me my whole life!" Cat lifted her head and looked at her boyfriend. "Meaning that telling me I killed her the moment I was born? That—that was a lie!"

"It was," Beck nodded. "And I think you should let him know that."

She looked at the note in her hand and then shook her head. "Why should I? I should just let him live with his guilt for the rest of his fucking life!" And with that, she threw the note on the ground, but still held the locket tightly in her hand.

It was silent between them for a few minutes before Beck turned her head towards him and kissed her softly, "Are you going to open it?"

She looked down and nodded, watching a tear fall down, she slowly opened it, and saw herself as a baby with another woman.

She'd never met her mother before, or seen many pictures (most of them being when she was younger and just before she was born), and most definitely she didn't see any of herself with her. Her father probably hid them all from her so she wouldn't discover the truth.

"It's—it's me," She whispered, "With my mother."

"Yeah, it is." Beck said looking at her and then at the picture. "She's beautiful."

"She is," Cat agreed, "she's also very young."

"Well, you already know she was sixteen when you were born, that wasn't a secret."

"You're right," Cat said, "But still it's so strange to me, we're both young parents… although I'm pretty sure it wasn't supposed to happen that way."

"I don't think so either, but still I know she'd be supportive of you."

"Yeah, you're right, I think she would be," Cat nodded and then closed the locket, she turned to her boyfriend. "I know I'm not supposed to technically get it for another year and few months, but will you put it on me?" She asked and he smiled at her taking it from her hand.

"I'd be happy to." He wrapped it around her neck, and clasped it together, letting it fall, she picked it up and looked at it a smile on her face. "I love it." He said, "it looks beautiful on you."

She kissed him gently, "Thank you, for being here with me while I do this."

He shrugged, smiling at her, "I had nothing better to do, but sleep."

She giggled, "But still it means a lot to me."

"Hey you know me… I'm always here for you."

"I know." She smiled and kissed him again, before turning back to the box and pulling out something that looked like a scrapbook. She slowly opened it and they noticed they were mostly pictures—pictures of her mother.

Cat was silent, and had been for the past few minutes, so Beck looked at her, "You okay?"

"Beck…" She whispered, "These… these are…" She swallowed hard, "These are pictures of—of my mother. I—I've never met her…and these are pictures of her." She looked up at him tears in her eyes, he leaned forward and kissed her forehead gently. "What if—what if the same thing happens to me… and I don't get to know our baby? What if—" She cut herself off and looked away. "I don't want to be like that kind of mother."

"You won't be," Beck promised her. "You'll be in this kid's life… I'll make sure of it."

He sounded so sure of himself, so… sincere and she couldn't help but lean forward, her hand on his cheek and kiss him gently.

"I hope so."

He smiled at her, "I know so."

**PRESENT DAY **

To put it in simple terms, she was tired; tired of everyone watching over her like a damn hawk. It'd only been about a day, and sure she knew she had tried to kill herself and she deserved what she was getting, but there is a time when a girl needs some privacy and that's exactly what she was going to get.

But it was kind of hard to do when all of her friends were arguing in front of her, giving her a headache. Well, everyone except for Beck and Jade, that is.

"I want to stay with her!" Tori argued but Robbie's argument was better—for once in his life.

"You did yesterday! Can't I be with her for a while? You can't always be with her!"

"Guys! Guys! Let's settle this my way," Andre cut in, "She'll stay with me!"

And that was pretty much all she'd been hearing for the past twenty to thirty minutes, and she was getting _sick _of it.

"Hey guys?" She said, at first all nice, with a hint of annoyance, but they kept going. She sighed and rolled her eyes, but tried again.

"Guys?" She was slowly getting louder, that meant… something right? Her throat however was killing her, so any exertion she was using on it was going to cost her later in the day.

"Just let her stay with me!" That was Tori… she annoyed her, well, at least at the moment she was annoying.

She tried again, but still nothing. Until she _finally_ and completely lost it.

"GUYS SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

Well, that certaintly got their attention. She sighed, for a second, swallowing hard to find her throat was really killing her. She coughed for a second while they just stared at her. She glared back at them, and then spoke.

"Can you… I don't know, leave me alone for like a few hours?"

Tori shook her head, "Nuh-uh, you heard what your doctor said."

"I don't care what she said!" Cat burst out, coughing again, but she just took a deep breath. "I mean, I do, but really you guys have been with me every minute for the past like 36 hours! I just want some alone time, okay? I promise, _nothing_ will happen."

"Right, and how do you expect us to believe that?" Andre asked, crossing his arms over his chest and staring her down.

He kind of reminded her of what a father would do to his daughter if she'd given him the same statement. She shook her head quickly ignoring the thought.

She sighed and rolled her eyes looking around, a bit pissed off now (well, more so than before). Her phone went off in her pocket, but she ignored it, glaring at her friend. "You just have to trust me."

They were all silent, exchanging looks, before Tori nodded, her hands going up in front of her. "Alright, Cat, we trust you."

Cat breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, okay. Thanks."

Tori nodded, going to the front door of the house. "I'll be back to check on you later, okay?"

Cat nodded, as Andre sighed, "Alright, alright. I'll leave you alone for now, come on… Robbie." He said playfully pushing the curly haired boy's shoulder. "Let's give the lady some alone time."

"Actually…" Cat began, "I uhm, want Robbie to stay here for a bit. I need to talk to him in private."

Andre nodded, "Okay, okay.." He said and then smiled at them, "See you later."

The door closed and Cat sighed happily turning to Robbie she wrapped her arms around him and _surprisingly _let out a squeal.

"Cat?" Robbie looked amused. "So, what did you want to talk to me about in private?"

She pulled away and looked at him, her arms still wrapped around his neck. She didn't say anything, but instead leaned forward and pressed her lips against his softly. He responded back, kissing her deeper, but gentle, and then broke it. He smiled at her and she smiled back.

"Yeah, so that was pretty much it." She said quietly and he laughed.

"So, you want to be alone?" She didn't say anything so he rephrased his words. "Would it be okay… if I was alone with you?"

She nodded, "Yeah, I'd like that."

Beck, meanwhile was sitting in Bentley's bedroom on the floor with the little boy going over signs that he had learned in the past few days. Bentley surprisingly was learning as well and signing back to him. He smiled at him and kissed the top of his head, "You're doing great!"

He signed again, '_Really_?'

He nodded, "Of course kid." They did it a little more and his phone then went off. He picked it up, reading the text, his eyes going wide.

_Beck, come over, like now. I need you_. – Jade

Well, crap. There was no one around to watch Bentley as his mother was out for the day and Cat was taking much needed "me" time as Andre had told him about an hour ago. Looks like he was going to take Bentley with him.

"Hey, buddy. Do you wanna go on a ride and see Jade?" Bentley's eyes lit up, so he took that as a good sign. "Okay! Let's get you ready to then!"

Cat pressed her lips against Robbie's harder, as she fell on her back on the bed, as he fell on top of her. They started to kiss hungrily, more to just get it out of their systems… (which they were both thinking) than anything else.

Cat pressed herself against his body in an effort to get closer to him while he kissed her harder. He put his hands under her shirt and started to rub her sides, causing her to moan in his mouth. About two minutes after that though, she seemed to realize what was going on, and broke their heated make out session.

"Wait, wait." She said, as he kissed her again. He pulled away and looked at her, as she tried to catch her breath, breathing heavily. "I think… we're going too fast."

"You do?"

She nodded, "I don't—I don't want to have sex or anything, uhm, like that yet."

He stared at her for a minute before nodding, "Okay." He said, "That's fine."

"Really? I mean… you're not mad?"

"Why would I be?" She sounded so hopeful it almost made his heartbreak, especially with how fragile she was already.

She gave him a small smile, and leaned in kissing his lips softly. "Thanks," She said.

"For what?"

She thought for a moment, "For being here, with me."

He wrapped his arm around her and hugged her tight, "Anytime." He whispered.

And then, a second later her lips were on his again. He broke it, and looked at her, "Wha—"

"I couldn't help it." She shrugged, "I don't care how fast we're gong anymore… I just… I don't want to take things slow, well, that slow anyway, like the speed of a snail or something but yeah. Can we please just—" He cut her off by pressing his lips to hers.

"No talking." He told her and she giggled kissing him again, she pulled him closer and lay back on her back. And this time, as it got more and more heated, she didn't back down, instead she stopped _only _to take her shirt off.

She pulled him to her again, and lifted his shirt over his head running her fingers across his back, she moaned when he bit down on her lip, and her hips slammed into his, causing her to gasp. He took advantage of her gasp and kissed her deeper.

"R—Robbie." She moaned and he kissed her gentler. "Robbie…" She whispered, unsure of what she was feeling… since the first and last person she'd felt anything like this was Beck, it was a little scary. But instead of showing that fear, she just… ignored it.

He broke their kiss again and looked at her. "Are you afraid?" He asked her quietly.

She just looked at him for a moment before shaking her head, "No. No I'm not."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded, "Yes… I'm very sure." He then nodded again, and kissed her softly, almost as if he wasn't kissing her at all it was so light.

"How far do you want to take it?"

She took a deep breath, silent for a moment, before continuing. "I'll take it as far as you want to go." He looked at her confused so she just rolled her eyes and continued. "Let's just go as far as we can." She whispered looking directly at him. "I want to, I promise."

He hesitated for a moment, still debating, but once her lips were on his, all his thoughts flew out of his head, and elsewhere. And once she had her hands down his pants, he knew it was all over. But when he _definitely knew_, was when he was putting the condom on, and he looked at her, looking and admiring how beautiful he was, and thought about how lucky he was. If she didn't have those problems and hadn't left for those two years she was gone, she'd still be with Beck… and who knows whom Jade would've been with. He didn't care, all he cared and bout was the moment he was sharing with Cat, right here, right _now_.

And as he entered her, he figured… he was one lucky guy.

But what he didn't know, was she had tears in her eyes, and they weren't for joy or anything like that… she was crying because… there was something missing in what she was doing with Robbie, and though she couldn't name it, it depressed the hell out of her.

And once it ended, she regretted it. But with no clear reason, she felt guilty. Even though there really wasn't a reason to be… just couldn't help it.

She just _did_.

**FIFTH GRADE – MS. THOMAS'S CLASSROOM **

The bell rang for recess and all of the kids hurried out, well, all except for two kids, that is.

Beck was still sitting at his desk as he watched his best friend get scolded to by their teacher. She had been acting out recently, but he didn't know why. She was just acting more and more… belligerent and loud and just always seemed to want to get in trouble.

It was the last day before Christmas break and he didn't want her to get in so much trouble he couldn't see her at all during the break.

"You can't keep talking when I ask you not to," Ms. Thomas told her, "I know you like to tell everyone things that pop into your head, but it's disrespectful, not only to me, but to everyone else."

Cat nodded her head, "Okay." She said, quietly, "I'm sorry." She turned her head away from the teacher, but Beck could see she had tears in her eyes… that wasn't really like her. She always told him, since day one, that he had to be brave, and that he couldn't cry and show his fear.

Or else it would make you seem weak.

And he knew that was a feeling she hated more than anything else. Even sadness.

Ms. Thomas nodded her head, "Okay, well, you're free to go."

Cat nodded and got up grabbing her backpack, she looked up to see Beck was still in his seat, looking at her. And even he could see she didn't want to cry, but once she looked at him, she bit her lip—hard—and shook her head for a second, before completely bursting into tears.

Their teacher had left then, so it was just them in the room. He had run to her and immediately wrapped his arms around her hugging her tight.

"Why are you crying?" He asked her and she looked up at him. "Because… because I'm a screw up!"

"What? Who said that?"

"Ms. Thomas did." She said, wiping her tears away. "And so did my daddy."

"Why would he say something like that?" Beck asked him.

She shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know."

Beck didn't say anything more; instead he just hugged her close and held her while she cried harder—than he'd ever heard her to before—into his chest.

After a few minutes she stopped and looked up at him, "Beck… do you love me?" She whispered.

He nodded, "Of course I do, you know that."

She nodded against his chest, but said nothing. So, he decided now was a good time to give her one of her Christmas gifts, and only because he wanted to see a smile on her face… the smile she only gave _him_.

He pulled away for a second and she looked at him hurt, he just looked at her, feeling guilty for it, but figured the feeling would go away once he gave her what he wanted to, and pulled it out of his pocket. He put it in her tiny hand, and she looked at him then at the box.

It was small, like the size of a square. While still leaning against him, she started to unwrap it, opening the box to see there was a ring there.

Since she was only nine years old she didn't really get what it meant, but figured it had to be something really _good_ if it was coming from Beck.

But still, she asked him anyway ("just to be sure" she'd later tell him). "What's this?"

"It's a promise ring." He told her, "My mom suggested I get it for you, even though we're really young, but I told her we were gonna be best friends beforever, and she told me that I should get you this… so you _always_ remember that." He picked it up out of the box, and held it in between his fingers. It wasn't that great, just silver metal, with an ingraving on the inside. "See? It says, '_to my best friend forever, Courtney Valentine, I love you'" _

She took it from it and looked at it, she couldn't say she didn't love it, because… well, that would've been a _lie_.

"This is so you'll promise to be my best friend forever and ever?" He nodded, and then put it on her finger.

"Forever," He whispered and she looked at it for another moment, before wrapping her arms around him and hugging him.

"Thank you, so much." She whispered.

"No problem." He smiled at her, and then poked her, "But now you have to race me to the playground."

Her eyes widened, "What? No! I'm gonna win!"

"Nice try!" He shot back, and then tickled her stomach for a moment, her hand catching his, while they stared at each other for a moment, not letting go. She soon broke out of the moment, and pushed him away.

"No!" She shouted, "I'm gonna win!" And with that, she was out of the classroom, her best friend right behind her.

About a week later, Beck was outside his house, building a snowman, when he heard someone walk up the stone path that led to his front door. He looked up to see Cat was there, a sort of shy smile on her face.

"I have a present for you." She said, and he got up, walking over to her.

"You do?"

"Yeah…" She whispered, and gave it to him. It was neatly wrapped (in Batman wrapping paper), but being the boy he was, he ripped it all off. He opened the small box, and looked at her.

"You got me…"

"A ring, like you did." She said, "Your mommy helped me pick it out though. She said you'd like it."

"When did you do that?"

She shrugged, "When you were playing with your cousins, and I didn't want to go, remember?" He thought back to the other day, and nodded.

"Right, I remember now." She giggled, and told him to read what was inside.

He looked at her a moment, before lifting it to the air, reading the engraved words "'_To my bestest friend in the whole world, Beck Oliver, I love you_'" He laughed though when he read it. "Bestest isn't a word."

"It is now!" She spoke adamantly and it just made him smile.

"Well, whatever. I love it, Courtney, thank you." She motioned for him to give it to her, and he did. Then she motioned for him to give his hand to her, and he did that as well. Then he watched as she took his glove off, and then took the ring, sliding it on to his finger.

"There," She said, smiling. "We've officially promised to be best friends," She started to say the next word, but he beat her to it.

"Forever." He whispered, and she put both her hands on his cheeks, and without warning or a word, she leaned forward and kissed one of them softly (and quickly).

"Forever," She giggled and then Beck broke out of his trance.

Without a word, he bent down and started to scoop up some snow, he made it into a ball (at a faster than should be normal pace) and then threw it at her. She gasp-screamed and then did the same thing (as fast as he had) and threw it at him.

"I'm gonna get you for that!"

"Nah nah nah nah! You can't catch me!" She taunted him running around his snowman, she ended up tripping and falling to the ground. And Beck (not paying attention to her at all) ended up doing the same thing.

She started to laugh and turned over, only to find they were face to face. "I could still beat you, you know."

"Oh yeah? I'd like to see you try." He challenged her.

She looked around for a moment at the beautiful snow on the ground and his snowman, deciding she wanted to finish that first. She then looked at her ten year old best friend, "Maybe someday." She told him.

He nodded, "Yeah… maybe someday."

And with that, he got off of her, helped her up and they both walked to the snowman he had been building earlier. In comfortable silence they began to fix it up more, and worked until it was completely finished.

"What should we name him?" She asked, and he shrugged.

"I don't know."

"How about… Batney?"

"Batney?" He made a face and she laughed.

"Like both our names put together… or… or… Bentley!"

His face lit up. "I like that name!"

"Okay!" She said, "Say hi, to Bentley!"

He smiled and looked at the snowman. "Hi, Bentley." He kept admiring the snowman, until he realized Cat was giggling next to him.

"Wouldn't it be so funny if he came to life?"

His eyes widened, "That would be cool! I mean to know someone named Bentley and then have my snowman come to life! You know how cool that would be?"

"Real, cool?" She asked him and he nodded.

"Real cool."

She smiled, "Well… who knows, maybe it'll happen someday."

"Someday?"

"Yeah, like when we're older, like in college!"

"A snowman will come to life then?"

"No!" She laughed, "We'll meet someone named Bentley."

"Oh!" He said, not confused anymore. "Yeah, maybe when we're in college."

She giggled again and threw her arms around him. "I love you, Beck."

"I love you too, Courtney."

And with that, cold and freezing to death, they abandoned their snowman for the night—or as they named him, Bentley—and went inside to drink some nice warm cocoa. But they never did forget that day… the day they promised to be eachother's best friend forever.

**PRESENT DAY **

"Jade?" Beck called as he stepped inside her house, "Hey, Jade?" His voice echoed around the huge mansion and he prayed to god her father wouldn't come down to talk to him. The first time was awkward enough.

"Yeah! I'm upstairs!" He heard and picked up Bentley, taking two stairs at a time, he was in her bedroom in nearly no time at all.

She smiled at the little boy once she saw him—a good sign. "Hey! There's my favorite boy!"

"But… but I thought I was your favorite boy…" Beck said, and she laughed, giving him a peck on the lips.

"Eh, second favorite."

"Fine…" Beck sighed dramatically, then turned back to being concerned. "So, what was it you had to tell me?"

And then she suddenly got nervous.

What the hell?

"Uh, well…" She looked down, playing with her fingers, before she looked up at him. "We, uh, might have a problem."

"And what's that?"

"Well, for one," She said, totally avoiding it. "I've been trying to call and reach Cat all day, but she isn't answering…"

"Yeah, Tori said something about wanting alone time? I don't know." He shrugged, "I'm sure we'll hear from her soon, so I wouldn't worry too much about that."

"Okay…" She sighed, relieved, "Good."

"Yeah, so what did you want to tell me?" Beck asked as Bentley started to run around him causing him to switch hands since he kept letting go of them.

"Uh, well, I've been sick… you know a lot this past week." She told him and he looked at her.

"Do you have a flu?"

"No. I—I don't think that's what it is."

"Okay, well, then what it is it?"

She sighed, deciding to not be a scared little child and instead be an adult, and the blunt person she usually is.

"I think I'm pregnant."

Beck's eyes widened, "P-pregnant?"

"Yeah." She sighed, "I know it's hard for you since you already have Bentley and everything and I get it, but—yeah. You might be a—a daddy again."

Beck picked up Bentley and walked over to Jade's bed. "No, you can't be pregnant."

"Well, what else is making me puke every morning and eat a lot? I mean… I haven't even gotten my period in a month!"

"Then why did you tell me before?"

"Because, Beck. You're ex girlfriend had just come back to town, I didn't want to screw things up more by going, 'oh hey! I'm pregnant with your ex's child!'"

"Fine, then... take a test, and go see a doctor." He said, his tone emotionless.

"Aren't you—aren't you going to—"

"Jade." He looked at her, his tone serious. "I can't have another child, I can barely even handle the one I have now. It would just complicate things more for us."

She was hurt, that she couldn't deny. She suddenly felt like that when Cat had told him she was pregnant; he'd been more… supportive.

And not like the asshole he was being now.

But despite feeling like she wanted to cry, she just nodded her head, "Fine, I'll do it myself."

He shook his head, "No, I'll go with you."

What the hell? Was he as bipolar as Cat was or what?

"You just said a second ago you didn't want this child."

"So? I still can't help you out?"

"Of course you can." She finally said, and he nodded.

"Okay, thanks." And then he crossed the room and kissed her. "I'm not saying it to be a jerk… I'm just saying it because I don't think _we're_ ready to have a baby yet."

"But you were four years ago?" She couldn't help it. She had to say it.

"I wasn't then either." He admitted. "But there was nothing I could do about it. Cat wouldn't hear anything else, other than… 'let's keep it'."

"Isn't that that same now?" Jade asked him. "I mean… what's the difference?"

"You don't have the same life she does, Jade. I mean sure, you and your mother haven't spoken in years, but she never _knew_ her mother, and yeah you're father is an asshole, but at least he'll take time out of his day to talk to you… her father could care less about her. She needed someone to love her, other than me, and that's why she wouldn't give Bentley up for adoption or anything. Even… even when she had to go to treatment, it was difficult for her to say goodbye to him. She needs love, Jade, and that's why she had him. You—you have love. I love you, Bentley loves you, and your family loves you." He paused trying to read her emotion in her eyes. "At least be happy you have that."

"I am happy I have that… but Beck, come on! It's a baby! And it's _yours_. If it turns out I am pregnant, I want to have this baby, okay? I do!" She pushed herself away from him and crossed her arms over her chest, her ring scratched her and she held it in front of him. "We're _engaged_, and usually when two people who are about to get married get pregnant, they have the baby."

"I get that! Okay? I get it!" Beck yelled at her, "But… I just can't." His voice sounded pained as he spoke to her, and she felt her eyes fill with tears.

"You—you still…" She trailed off, trying to get her words together. She had realized something, and realized it _big time_. "You still have feelings for her don't you?"

He looked at her, his eyes wide, "What? No!" He said, "I love _you_."

"Then why are you being such a jerk about this?"

"Because I'm not ready! This whole thing… it's—it's different."

"Different how?"

"I can't explain it, but it just is okay? Let's just drop it for now, and go get you a test."

"With Bentley?" Her voice sounded flat and he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, he's here now, isn't he? Where else is he supposed to go?"

"Blair can watch him," She said, speaking of her stepsister who was a law student. "She'd be happy to."

"No it's fine." He said, "Let's just go, we'll take him with us. It's really not that big of a deal."

"Fine." She said, giving up. "Whatever."

An hour later, they were back at her house—Bentley fast asleep on her bed—waiting for the results of the test.

"This is the longest, three minutes of my life!" Jade yelled frustrated. Beck didn't say anything just sat there silently, waiting.

Usually they'd comfort each other and be there for one another, but this time it wasn't like that, and it pained Jade to know that.

Beck, though was having flashbacks—and having them _big time_, his hand going to the ring on his neck, his played with it nervously as Jade stood up. She looked at it and then at him.

But unlike the time he found out with Cat, she didn't fall to the ground, her head in her hands, in fact—she didn't really do anything at all, which half worried him and half gave him hope.

"Jade?"

She looked at him, tears in her eyes and threw the test at him. He grabbed it and quickly looked at it.

His heart seemed to stop and his body went numb.

It was _positive_.

The next day at school, Tori and Andre could sense the tension. In their small group of friends, it was pretty damn obvious that things weren't the best as they'd all hoped it would be.

Jade and Beck weren't really talking, and Cat pretty much ignored every attempt Robbie tried to talk to her.

And they both wondered, what the _hell _was going on?

It wasn't long before they found out though, and they sort of wish they hadn't. If Beck and Jade did talk, the spoke in hushed tones, not loud enough for them to hear, but loud enough for anyone who sat behind them to.

And the person that sat behind them, was the _same_ person who liked to start and cause all the drama in the first place.

As she was a cold-hearted bitch.

Cat was sitting alone in the theatre, she had a book in her hand, and was writing down lyrics, and anything that came to her mind. She wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone or see them, and since she was on suicide watch at all hours of the day, they had to watch over her, closely. But since she was at school, the rules seemed to be lifted, for just that reason. She was at school and there were people around her at all times.

Except for now. She had snuck away, and was actually enjoying herself. Peace and quiet were just what she needed and she was taking advantage of the short time she had before someone figured out she was gone.

The door slammed and she jumped, realizing it _really _was over, but when the person walked up to her, she realized it probably really wasn't.

"Well, well, well…" She said, a smirk on her lips as she walked up to Cat. "If it isn't the crazy girl."

Cat glared at her, "Shut up, Brenda. And get your fake nose out of my business."

Brenda gasped, her hands going to her nose, "How did you know that?"

Cat grinned, "I didn't… but now I do."

Brenda rolled her eyes, but instead of leaving all pissed off and what not, she got in the younger, shorter girl's face. "Why are you being such a bitch to me?"

"Why are you one all the damn time?"

"I have to be, to keep up appearances."

"For what?" Cat demanded. "You keep that up and you'll have no one! No friends, no boyfriend, _nothing_!"

"Oh, like you're so good at knowing exactly everything, right?" Brenda scoffed, "You lost everything the moment you left two years ago."

"No I didn't!" Cat yelled at her, "I still have my friends, and my son! Get your damn facts straight!"

"Oh yeah? Then why did I hear from Beck and Jade themselves that they were having another baby?"

"W-what?" Cat blurted, shocked. "What did you just say?"

"Well, I was in class, you know, and Mr. Dumbass… forget his name, anyway, they're both in my music class, and uh, they were talking you know all pissed off and all that, and—"

"Just get to the damn point!" Cat interrupted her, only earning herself a glare.

"Well, I heard Jade say that she wanted to 'keep the baby'" She used quotation marks with her fingers, and it made Cat want to break them off. "And Beck kept telling her… well I couldn't really hear it, but yeah. They're pregnant."

"You believe that?" Cat rolled her eyes, "So, maybe they're just—"

"Why would she say she wanted to keep the baby? Are you that naïve?"

"No, but you're that much of a bitch."

Brenda shook her head. "Okay, here's more proof. Why did Jade get up in the middle of the class to go puke?"

"Uh, maybe she's not feeling well?"

"And this morning. And again just five minutes ago…"

"She could be sick." Cat's voice lowered, almost to a whimper as she realized what Brenda was saying was probably true. "Why would you tell me this? Do you really want to ruin my life that much?"

"No." Brenda shrugged, "I just love gossip and then rubbing it in your face."

"Why me?" Cat asked, tears in her eyes. "Haven't I suffered enough?"

Brenda looked at her, her eyes dark, her stare cold. "Not even close." And with that, she left, grabbing her bag she walked out of the theatre.

Cat stayed in her seat for a moment, letting her anger build up before throwing her notebook across the room, not caring where it went. She then got up and kicked the seat she was sitting on over so hard it flew about three rows back.

She was pissed off, pissed off and upset.

Wiping her tears away, she angrily walked out of the room—not giving a flying fuck about her shit—and stormed into the hallway.

She was just about to exit the school, when she heard her name being called and turned around.

Jade ran up to her, "Where the hell do you think you're going? You can't just leave!"

She then ripped herself out of Jade's hold, and stumbled back, "Let go of me." She said, her tone dark. "_Now_."

"What—what's gotten into you?" Jade asked, "Why are you acting like that?"

"How could you?" Cat demanded. "How could you do that to me?" She yelled at her, causing a few students to stop what they were doing, and look at them. She ignored them though.

"Do what? Cat? What the hell are you talking about?" Jade began to panic, it seemed like Cat was pissed off, but for what reason, she didn't know. She looked like she was gong to murder someone, and instantly worried that she hadn't been taking her medication. "Have you been—"

"What do you care?" Cat yelled louder, close to screaming. "You just care about yourself! You replaced me in Beck's life and in Bentley's! Don't deny it anymore and don't brainwash me to think otherwise. Your words mean _nothing_ to me."

Jade's eyes filled with tears, and she backed up, her hand going to her stomach. Cat however, noticed and realized what Brenda said _had been true_. Since whenever she had gotten upset when she was pregnant, she did the _same thing_.

"I'm out of here," She said, lowering her voice to one that bordered on almost evil, but since it was her, it wasn't really that close to it. She then pushed through the students, and was almost through the doors when she felt her arm being tugged back.

She looked up to see it was Beck. "LET GO OF ME!" She screamed and pushed him off of her, causing him to stumble back. "JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"What the fuck Cat?" He snapped, "What's gotten into you?"

"Leave. Me. Alone." She more or less ordered. "Or I'll say you were hurting me."

Now she was kind of looking like she was losing her mind. She couldn't see it, but Beck sure as hell could.

"Are you having another—"

"NO! For once, maybe, just maybe, I'm pissed off at you." She snapped, "But you know, guess what? You never have to worry about it happening again, because I don't ever want to see you again!"

"What?"

"This best friend friendship we have? Or that we've had our whole lives? Is _over_. I'm done with you and I'm done with her."

"Why are you being like this?"

"You don't care about me, and you never did. All our lives you just lied to me, and now that I know you have, I want nothing to do with you." She repeated more or less. "I'm taking Bentley and I'm going back home."

"Home?"

"Yeah, as in Stratford." She snapped. "I'm sick of this place!"

"You can't do that!" Beck shouted at her, "He's in my custody! You gave us those rights when you left! Besides, you hardly even spend time with him now!"

"What does it matter, Beck? Huh? You're going to have another baby anyway and give it all that attention so why do you care if I have Bentley or not?" Cat demanded, stepping farther away from him.

"How did you know that?" Beck demanded as Jade's eyes widened. "We didn't tell anyone."

"Yeah, well, you shouldn't have been talking about it in school where certain people can hear and then rub it in my face!" She yelled back at him. "You're an idiot!"

"You know what, Cat?" Jade said, speaking up. "You don't really have to worry about that, because… he doesn't want it."

Cat turned to him, "What?"

"Yeah, apparently he's not ready for it or whatever."

She ignored Jade, but focused her attention on Beck, "And why is that?"

"Because, Cat. I'm not." He stared at her hard, and she did the same, when she realized exactly what he was talking about.

"Because… it's not the same." She said, and he just looked at her, his expression softening, as Jade too realized it. "You—you wish it was me, and it was back…then." She was in some sort of shock, so her words began to move farther and farther apart. "Isn't it?"

He said nothing and that was all it took for the two girls to know, Cat was right.

"You can't have it that way anymore, Beck. I'm not _yours_ anymore."

"I know that." He said, but said nothing more.

"So… so all this time you've been lying to me?" Jade demanded. "You still care for her?"

"There's a part of me, that can't let her go. And I know she feels the same, but no. I wasn't lying to you."

"Oh yeah? Then why did you just agree to everything she just said? Huh? You miss it! Being with her! Just admit it Beck!"

"I don't miss being with her!" Beck yelled at her, "I _love_ _you_!"

Despite the hurt look in Cat's eyes, he continued. "She means nothing more to me than a friendship."

"Not even—"

"_No_." he said, and then did something that both Cat and Jade and everyone else that was there weren't expecting. He yanked on the chain around his neck, letting it break, and held the ring in his hand. "Do you want me to prove it to you?"

Cat then watched, her eyes filling with tears, as he put the ring in his backpack, letting it fall wherever since he didn't really care at that moment. "See? It's off, meaning I have no ties with her, _whatsoever_."

"Why—why did you do that to me?" Cat whimpered causing them to turn to her. She stood there silent for a moment, until she just finally let it all out. "You know what? You two, have a great life together, okay? It's obvious we're not friends anymore, any of us. I've been replaced in his life, but I won't be replaced in my son's life. Beck," She said, staring at him cold and hard, and without a word, she took off the ring that she kept on her finger—always—and threw it on the ground not caring where it went. And then she looked at Beck, "I'll see you in court." And with that, she ran out of the doors, and out of the school.

Everyone began to whisper at each other, and Beck looked up, to see Tori, Andre and Robbie were there, their faces one of anger and betrayal. He had just betrayed his best friend and he didn't even care.

"See?" He turned to Jade. "What more proof do you need than that?"

Jade on the other hand just shook her head. "I don't know what's gotten into you, but it has something to do with her. So, until you figure it out, I don't want to talk to you."

"What?" He said, and she shrugged. "I can't do this right now, okay? So… please, leave me alone for a couple days or whatever." And with that, she stepped away from him, shaking her head, tears in her eyes, she walked away from him, pushing a few students out of her way as she did. But that was typical Jade.

Beck's behavior the last couple days, however, was not.

"Man, that was low, even for you." Andre said, shaking his head disapprovingly. "I think you broke Cat so much, she won't be fixed again."

"I highly doubt that." Beck said, "The only person who can fix her is me."

"So you say," Tori cut in, "But at the way you've been acting, I really wouldn't believe it for one second."

Robbie didn't say anything, he just shook his head and walked away. And as he did, he bent down, his foot stepping on something and picked it up, only to find it was Cat's ring. He put it in his pocket, and decided he'd give it to her later… that is if she wanted to talk to him, but right now he wasn't so sure.

Tori meanwhile was so pissed off she slapped Beck's cheek.

"What the fuck, Tori?"

"Until you figure things out, do not talk to me, to Cat, or to Jade." She said, her voice low and threatening. "To be perfectly honest, I'm glad Cat's taking you to court, you fucking deserve it, asshole," And with that, she left him alone with Andre.

Beck just looked at him, "I really fucked up didn't I?"

"Well, at least you realized it, but yes, you did."

Beck had a pained expression on his face, as he looked at him, "I—I have to go fix this."

"Oh yeah? How?" Andre demanded his voice louder. "There's no way you can fix this! Dude! You fucked up! Cat's not going to be as forgiving as she once was anymore! Don't you see that? You've both changed!"

"I know that!" Beck yelled at him, "But I still want to do _something_."

"Fine." He said, "Then when you figure that out, let me know. Because you have a hell of a lot of thinking to do."

Beck closed his eyes and let his head hang. "No shit."

"Then get to it." He said, "Before Cat does something crazy."

"What's the point? She's already fucking nuts." Beck said, and then instantly regretted it. "Oh I didn't meant to—"

"Dude." Andre threw his hands in the air, "I don't care anymore, just… I have nothing to say to you." And with one last glare, he too had left him.

Beck sat down at the steps and angrily pushed his fingers through his hair. "FUCK!" He yelled, slamming his fist on the ground… "_Fuck_."

He had no clue of how to fix this, but what he did know was that he had to get his thoughts and shit together.

And _fast_.

_Yeah, you probably hated that. But it's gonna get better! I mean for Beck and Jade, not so much Cat… eh, you'll see. _

_Oh, and I wanted to make something clear. The "flashbacks" or more memories that Cat and Beck had together that sort of sets up what's going to happen later on in the story. _

_Yeah, if you can guess it, that'd be awesome, since someone already guessed about the pregnancy. Haha._

_Let me know whatcha think! And if it sucked! Really… because I'm kind of scared to know what y'all think, lol. _

_Oh yeah, and who agrees that Beck is an asshole? Ohhh and another thing, do you notice something… well off about Cat? _

_Hah! Review and find out next chapter! Xoxo._


	11. Chapter 11

_Just keep an open mind about this one, okay? _

Beck was still sitting on the steps in the main hallway, his head hanging down, his eyes hurting as he didn't really want to cry, but couldn't help as though he was going to. He heard footsteps, and looked up to see Sikowitz walking towards him.

"Beck? What are you doing here? School was over hours ago." He said, but Beck just looked at him and shrugged, saying nothing. "What? What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He mumbled.

"Well, it has to be something, doesn't it?" Sikowitz looked down at his watch. "It's five o'clock! Don't you have to pick Bentley up at daycare?"

To his surprise, Beck just stared at him blankly before speaking almost robotically. "My mom picked him up."

"Okay, then what's going on?"

"I fucked up," He finally said. "I fucked up bad."

"How so?" His teacher asked as he put one foot on the step next to him and leaned forward a bit. "What's wrong?"

"I lost my best friend." Beck sounded so sad, and so broken, it worried him. "I lost her… and…" He was no choking on his words, his eyes filling with tears. "And I don't think she's ever going to come back."

"Oh, I see." Sikowitz nodded, "You miss your best friend."

"What?"

"Beck, from what I understand, you and Cat, you've been best friends forever, correct?" Beck nodded, "You miss her, you miss everything about her, even… maybe being in love with her as well."

"But, I love Jade." Beck insisted. "I love her more than anything."

"You have a different kind of love with Cat, and it's one that can be replaced by no one else… and vice versa. She can't replace you, you can't replace her."

"This… this isn't some life long love story! We're not Cory and Topanga!" Beck said, "I just…I…" He trailed off, looking away, he took a deep breath and turned back to his favorite teacher. "I miss her."

"I know." Sikowitz said, "I think it's time you both stop being in denial and start owning up to how you feel."

"But, what about Jade? I mean… she's pregnant."

Sikowitz's eyes went wide, "You got her pregnant?" Beck nodded. "Two kids in four years… sure you can handle that?"

"I—I don't' know what I want!" Beck yelled, he put his head in his hands and a moment later, Sikowitz good see he was very clearly crying. He sat down next him and put his arm around him, he squeezed his shoulder, and looked at him.

"Talk to Cat." He said, "And then go talk to Jade."

After a moment, Beck looked up at him, wiping his eyes, "Shouldn't I go talk to Jade first?"

"That's…that's completely up to you." Sikowitz said, "You have to decide that yourself, I can't do it for you."

"But how can I do that?"

"Figure out who's the most important person to you right now." Sikowitz said, "It's all you got."

Cat was pissed off. And even that, that was an understatement. She was so mad at Beck for just… taking off the ring like it meant nothing to him. And she was mad at herself for doing the same thing and throwing it to the ground, only to roll away and never be seen again.

She didn't really know where she was going. All she had was her phone (which she kept in her bra) and her keys which were in her pocket. She had just walked out of the school, leaving all her school stuff behind, not really caring about what happened to it.

She was just walking down a sketchy looking street, too pissed to care she'd gone farther than her comfort zone.

She wanted to throw something at someone (namely Beck) and have a fit. But she couldn't do that, at least not yet.

"Holy shit." She heard behind her, and turned around to see a very _familiar _person standing there. "Am I seeing things?"

Cat just smirked at him, "No, no… it's me." She said, "Nice to see not much has changed, you're still here."

"Well, yeah. Where else would I go?"

"I don't know? Back to school, maybe?" She walked closer to him and sat down beside him. "Miss me much?"

"Hell yeah. Where the hell have you been? I heard something about treatment?"

Cat sighed, and then laughed humorlessly. "Yeah, I was basically pushed into it, thanks to Beck."

"Ah, the boyfriend."

"Uh, no…no. He's not my boyfriend anymore."

"What? I thought you both were all crazy in love and shit."

"Yeah…" Cat said looking down the street ahead of her. "We—we were."

"Were?"

"Yeah…uh, I left for two years and he got another girlfriend, or fiancé, whatever, who happens to be my stepsister."

"Whoa! Drama!" He said and she rolled her eyes. "Anyway, you want some?" He asked, pulling out a small baggie of some white stuff.

She took it slowly and stared at it. "I—don't think it'd be a good idea for me to have that, I mean… I literally just got out of the hospital like two days ago."

"Oh yeah? For what?"

"Cutting myself." She said, without any hesitation at all. "Long story, anyway, yeah… uhm, no thanks."

"So, what, you're straight edge now?"

"Hell no." She said, "I do some… other things."

"Like what?"

"None of your damn business." She said and stood up, he did too, and moved closer to her causing her to back up against the fence.

"Why are you lying to me?" He murmured, staring deep into her amazing eyes. He'd always loved them, loved her. "Why don't you just tell me the truth for once?"

She made a face and tried to push him away, once she found she wasn't strong enough, she just looked up at him, "Because I decided to get better." She snapped.

"Come on… you used to be fun." He said, tracing his finger along her jaw. "I know you still are _that girl_ somewhere deep down inside.

"No, I'm not!" Cat yelled at him. "I can't be that girl you once knew anymore, just like I can't be the girl Beck once knew either! I'm _me_, now. This is who I am, and no one is going to change it!"

She started to trace his finger along her jaw again, and her breath caught in her throat, she knew what he was capable of, as he was the guy she continually got in trouble with two years back. He had tried to convince her to cheat on Beck numerous times, and as drugged as she was, she always said no. It didn't matter, she loved him and she had to make damn sure he knew that.

But now that she wasn't with him and she didn't love Beck like that anymore… what was going to stop her?

"Come on, _Blaze_." He said, "You know you want some of this…" He took the powder from her and waved it in her face. "You fucking know you do."

"I—I don't belong here, I don't belong with you." She whispered, "I can't do it! I have—"

"You have what?" He asked her, shouting the words. "Yeah, exactly. You broke up with him, now you have _nothing_."

"That's not true." She said, "I have… I have my son."

"You—you have a child?" She nodded, "The fuck? And you still did this shit?"

She shrugged, "I was going through some things back then."

"Were you today? Because the way I saw it, you walked down this street, and you were pissed off. You wouldn't have done it for any other reason, other than you were pissed as fuck at someone."

_Just like she always did_.

(_Are you going to let him control you?_)

Oh no.

"If you must know, yes. I was pissed off at someone."

"Beck." He said simply. "Am I right?"

"Fuck you." She snapped. "You don't know anything."

"Try me."

"Fine." She said, "If you must know, yes. Yes, I'm pissed off at him."

"And why is that?"

"Because he got his fiancé pregnant!" She shouted. "And—and—"

"And that means… you what? Still have feelings for him?"

"That wasn't all that happened." She said, dodging the question. "He took off our promise ring and uhm, just threw it in his bag. While I… threw it on the ground. I don't know where it is."

"Ooh! Burn!" He said, and started to laugh humorously. "Now you know who you really should've been with."

"Yeah…" She said, rolling her eyes. "Because you're the _first _person on my list. Right."

"Are you denying it?"

"No." She said, "I'm just annoyed with you." She said, pushing him and _finally _getting him to move. "Besides, there's already someone else, you're too late."

"Oh yeah? Who?"

"Doesn't matter, you don't know him."

"Oh, okay. So I'm supposed to believe after like a day of being back in LA, you have another boyfriend? Right."

"I've been here two months!" She shouted. "See? Get your damn facts straight!"

"So, do you have a boyfriend or not?"

She thought about it for a moment, trying to make sense of it in her head. "I—I don't know what we are. All I know is that we've kissed a few times, told each other how we felt, and had sex, like once."

"Oh, you fucked him?"

"You are so immature." Cat rolled her eyes, "And yes, I did."

"So, you're not really official? You're just kinda… fuck buddies."

"Again, you are so immature!" She rolled her eyes, and looked around, "I don't know what we are, okay? He hasn't asked me out, so I really don't think we're boyfriend-girlfriend yet."

"Oh, well, that's good."

"Why?"

He didn't answer her, instead he pulled her towards him and kissed her. She didn't fight back so he took it as a good sign. He deepened the kiss once she gasped, and then pulled away.

"So, you're saying that you don't care I did that?" He asked, once his breathing finally became normal again.

"Nope." She said, "Not really."

(_What the hell is wrong with you? You're going to fuck everything up!_)

"And I don't care!" She whisper-yelled, and then pulled him back towards her, kissing him harder than he had before. They stood there making out for a while, when suddenly, she heard her name, and abruptly broke apart from him.

"Oh, no." She said, rubbing her arms, she began to shake. "Just… come with me." She told him, and tried to make a run for it, but couldn't as the person who called her name, managed to catch up to her.

"What?" He said, confused, and she rolled her eyes.

"What are you doing here, Sikowitz?" She asked him. He stared at her for a moment, before speaking.

"I just got done have a very interesting conversation with Beck."

"Oh, that's nice." She said, sounding as though she really wasn't interested. "I was uhm, you know, catching up with an old friend."

"Oh, an old friend?" Cat nodded, "That's nice…" He said, and she just stared at him. "Well, I would like to have a talk with you as well, would you like to come over?"

Her friend just looked at him like he was nuts. "You're gonna go over to this random dude's house?"

"Uh, he's my teacher." She said, "And uh, yeah. Sometimes we go over to his place… I used to, but I don't anymore."

"Oh, well, alright." He shrugged.

"So, Cat?" Sikowitz said, "Will you please come over?"

"Sure." She said, "But can I say goodbye to my friend first?"

"Sure." He said, "I'll just be over here." He walked towards the end of the block and Cat turned to him.

"Give me the coke." She said, and he looked at her, an amused expression on his face.

"I thought you were straight edge."

"Just give it to me dammit!" She whisper-yelled.

(_You're such a fucking idiot!_)

"Fine. Here you go, no charge."

"Thanks." She said, and then turned to walk away, before stopping a few feet, and turning to him, she put it in her pocket, and then looked at him. "My number's still the same if you still wanna catch up." She said, and with that, ran after Sikowitz.

(_You're such a fucked up girl)_

She shook her head, and caught up to her teacher. The walk was awkward and silent, but only lasted a few minutes. Once they got to his house, she walked inside and looked around.

"Wow, it looks pretty much the same…" She said, her hand going along the furniture. "Do you ever get bored of the same thing?"

"Eh, it's all the same to me." He shrugged, putting his stuff down, he motioned for her to sit on the couch, and she did. He took a seat next to her, and looked at her. "Now, I want you to tell me, what's going on?"

She shrugged, "Nothin'. Beck fucked up, simple as that. Now I want nothing to do with him."

"Oh yeah?" He said, "So, you're saying you're perfect?"

"Not even close! I'm just saying I'm not going to put up with it anymore."

"Cat, let me ask you something." She just looked at him, "Who was there for you the last 17 years of your life? Or at least the first fifteen, before you went into treatment?"

"He was."

"And who never gave up on you, when your father turned his back on you?"

"Beck."

"And who stayed by your side when you were pregnant? And through the birth?"

"Beck."

"Okay, and what does this tell you?"

"That… I need more friends?"

"No! That he cares about you! And no matter what, he's always, going to love you, but in a different kind of way… it's not the same love he has with Jade, you know. It's way different."

"Different how?"

"It's a different kind of love, Cat. You both grew up together, you both did everything together up until you went away for your treatment. If he wasn't there for you and you went through everything you did on your own, don't you think things would've been different?"

"Yeah." She scoffed, "Way different. I mean… I would've probably committed suicide to be honest."

Okay, that comment didn't really help at all, considering what happened the other day, but he put it aside, for the time being.

"Don't you see? You miss him! And he misses you!"

"Doubt it." She said, "He has Jade, why should he care about me?"

"Cat… he cried today. He cried because the best friend he had just walked out on him, if that's not… you know, a friend who cares for you, than I don't know what is. Regardless if he's in love with someone else now."

"I—" She didn't really know what to say. Everything was just so complicated. "I miss him too." She finally said. "I miss him a lot."

"Then, you have to tell him that."

"But I'm still so pissed off at him!" She whined. "He took off the promise ring I gave him and I threw mine! I'm not going to forgive him for that."

"It's just a ring, you can always get a new one."

"I don't want a new one! I want that one!"

Sikowitz shrugged, "Well, maybe you'll get it back someday." He said, "But that's not the main issue right now. You need to talk to Beck, and you need to sort everything out."

"No." She said, "I refuse to. I'm taking him to court to get custody of Beck. I'm done with him and Jade."

"Why? Because she's pregnant? How would you feel if it was the other way around? Wouldn't you feel hurt and alone?"

"Well, yeah. Of course." She said, "But when I was pregnant, Beck was by my side."

"And from what I understand it, he refuses to be by her side because 'he's not ready'. I think he is… he just needs, some closure, like you do."

"We need—what?"

"Closure. You need to stop pretending what you're feeling isn't there. Stop ignoring them and just… act on them! It's time to end the denial."

"You think so?"

He nodded, "I know so."

"So… I should go talk to Beck then?" She said, and he nodded again. "Can't I just… call him?"

"He might be with Jade."

"No." She said, "I know Beck, when he's upset, he's usually in his room… by himself, staring at the ceiling."

"See, right there." Sikowitz said, "You both know each other more than you both know yourselves. Go make things right, okay? Be the bigger person."

Cat was silent for a minute, playing with her phone, before she finally nodded. "Okay." She said, "I'm gonna—I'm gonna go make things right."

**SIXTH GRADE – BECK'S HOUSE **

"So, Beck, how was school today?" His mother asked him, and he just shrugged. "it was pretty much the same, you know, PE, math, science, nothing too interesting happened."

"Oh yeah?" He nodded, "Well, that's interesting, usually you have more to tell me."

"It was a boring day! What can I say?"

His mother laughed, "Alright, alright." She said, as he began to set the table for two people. "Are you hungry?"

"Starving." He said, just as his phone went off. He pulled it out to see he had a text from his girlfriend of two months. It was weird, you know, transitioning from best friends to boyfriend-girlfriend, but he had to say he did enjoy it.

_Can I come over? _– Courtney

_After dinner, okay?_ – Beck

_Okay_. Xoxo – Courtney

"It's a Friday night! Why aren't you out with your friends?"

Beck shrugged, looking up from his phone. "I don't know, don't feel like it. Uh, Courtney's coming over after dinner, is that okay?"

She smiled at him, "Of course it is, sweetie." He nodded, and they sat down to eat. Afterwards, he texted her to come over, and sat down in the living room to watch some tv. He hadn't realized it was raining until his program was over, and he instantly worried if she had gotten hurt or something.

He checked his messages, but found none.

He didn't have to worry or dwell on it too much though, because a few minutes later, his girlfriend came in, her hair soaking wet, her eyes puffy and red, her clothes soaked.

"Courtney! What happened to you?" He demanded immediately rushing over to her, grabbing the blanket on the couch, he wrapped it around her shoulders. "What's wrong?"

"My—my father." She said, "He and I got into a fight."

"A fight?" She nodded and looked down. It was then he noticed the bruise on her cheek. "Was he drunk again?"

"He only had a few drinks, no big deal." She said, leaning against him. Beck didn't know what to do, since they were both still under 16 years old, his mother had a rule that if she was over, they could only stay downstairs. She didn't seem to care when they were kids, but since they started to date, she had become a bit more strict on them. But he knew she needed to get into dry clothes or she was going to get sick.

"Hold on, okay?" He said and she nodded, sitting on the couch. He ran upstairs, got some small sweatpants, a hoodie, and socks and rushed downstairs. He went back into the living room. "Come on, let's get you changed before you catch a cold." She nodded, and he led her to the downstairs bathroom.

He put the dry clothes on the sink and was about to leave when he felt her hand on his, pulling him back in. "Don't leave." She whispered, and he nodded, closing the door behind him. They had changed in front of each other millions of times, so she wasn't too scared or worried about it.

He watched her take the blanket off, and her clothes. Until she was just left in her underwear and bra. And even though she was in a fragile state, and she was cold, and she'd just gotten into a fight with her father, he couldn't help himself. He closed the distance between them, and kissed her so suddenly, she didn't see it coming. He pushed her against the door, and bit down on her bottom lip, causing her to let out a moan into his mouth.

"B-Beck." She stammered, and he pulled away, looking at her. "I—I can't do that, yet." She said and he nodded.

"I know." He whispered, "Don't worry about it."

She nodded, and kissed his lips softer. She changed into his clothes—laughing a bit when she found out it was his basketball sweats—and sat down on the couch, letting her long wet hair fall over her shoulder, she lay her head against Beck's chest, once he sat down beside her, wrapping his arm around her.

They sat in silence, staring at nothing while Cat struggled not to cry.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He whispered, and that was it. Tears began to flow from her eyes and she sobbed into his chest, balling her hands into fists against his shirt, she just let it out all out.

After a few minutes, she was done and he ran his fingers through her hair. He didn't say anything, but he didn't have to for her to know he was still there.

"How—how can a father not love his own child?" She asked him, "Why did he have me if all he was going to do was treat me this way?"

He kissed her forehead and shook his head. "I don't know." He whispered. "But I'm sorry."

She started to cry again, so he hugged her close. "I'm here for you though." He said, "I always will be. And nothing will ever change that."

"Don't make a promise you can't—you can't keep." She whimpered and he shook his head, still holding her tight against him.

"That's a promise I'll always keep. You're my best friend and my girlfriend, I'm never going to go _anywhere_."

"Really?"

"I promise." He whispered into her hair. "I'm never letting you go."

**PRESENT DAY **

Cat stared up at the house in front of her, she hadn't done this since the time she was pregnant and Beck had yelled at her for it, but she felt like it was something she had to do. She climbed up the tree (quickly figuring it out even though it was completely different than from when she was in Canada) and found which window was his. She looked inside it, to see that she'd been right. He was in the same position she knew he'd be in. He was staring at the ceiling, almost emotionless. His door was shut, and she could see he was crying a little bit.

Sikowitz had been right.

He rarely ever cried, but for him to be doing it now, it had to be for a good reason. But she wasn't self-centered, she knew it wasn't just about her he was upset about, it was Jade too.

She knocked on the window, the same code they'd had for years, and waited for him to respond. He did a moment later, and got up, wiping his cheeks quickly, he walked to the window and opened it, helping her inside.

"Well, isn't this just like old times." He commented, and she nodded.

"Yeah, very vivid flashbacks happening right now." She told him, "Very, very vivid."

"Same…" He looked at her, "So uh, why are you here? I thought you hated me… remember, you said you were going to take me to court and—"

She put her finger on his lips to shut him up. "I'm here to talk to you."

"Talk to me?" She nodded, "Why do I feel like… I'm going to be duped?"

"You're not!" She insisted, "I promise., I just… we need to get this out, and be up front and honest with each other."

"Okay, about what?"

"About how we feel, Beck. I mean come on, I know you love me, and I still love you, but we both know it's not the same love we felt two years ago, it's a different kind, and I don't know what it is, but I can't be with someone else, with out thinking about you, and it's really hard and confusing and it's driving me crazy!"

"You feel the same way?" He whispered, and her head snapped in his direction. "I mean, yeah I love Jade, to death, trust me. I'd kill myself for you, but with you it's different."

"Yeah I know." She said, "I'm beginning to see that."

"I think… I think we have feelings between us, like this tension and we can't get rid of it, until—until we're really sure it's over."

"Like, closure." She said, and he nodded. "Well, how are we supposed to do that? I mean you're with Jade now, and I'm sort of with Robbie, but probably not because I sort of made a mistake earlier today in my anger and…uh yeah." She said, "You know how I get when I'm upset."

"Yeah," He nodded, "Your wrist is an example of that."

"You know, normally I'd be offended by that, but it's true, it is." She shrugged, looking at him. "So what do we do?"

He shrugged as well. "I don't know, Courtney… you're my best friend and I can't just let someone like you go. You've been apart of my life since I was born, and if I just lost that… I don't know what I'd do."

"Beck, are you still with Jade?" She whispered and he shook his head.

"We're on break. She texted me it after our fight, and I agreed figuring it was best—for the both of us, while I figure things out."

"And I'm—I'm single too." She said, stammering through her words. "We're—we're both single, and—and that's bad."

"Why is that bad?"

"Because I—" She stopped talking. "Look, I have to be honest with you, and yeah it's gonna make me sound like a slut, but I have to be honest." He nodded and she took a seat on his bed. "I had sex with Robbie."

His eyes widened, and he looked like he was gonna get pissed off and go off on her again, but she stopped him from it, "You can't say anything, Beck. You've had sex with Jade, that much is obvious." He nodded, calming down. "But anyway, today, I met up with an old friend of mine and—we hooked up, as in we made out."

"What were you thinking, Cat? You can't just do that!"

"Like you can't be with Jade and deny there's still something between us, Beck?" Cat pointed out and he rolled his eyes. "I know what I did was wrong, and I feel guilty for it, but even when I was with Robbie…. I couldn't help but feel like something was missing, and then I realized the last time I'd had sex was with you and it just… it hurt."

"So, that's why you didn't talk to Robbie all day." He said and she nodded.

"Yeah."

"So, what should we do now?"

"I—I don't know." Cat admitted. "I don't know where to go from here."

"I think I do—" Beck said, and leaned in closer to her. She looked up at him, her eyes going in between his eyes and lips.

"Beck, what are you doing?"

He didn't answer, instead pressed his lips against hers softly, leaving them there until she responded back—she didn't, and he broke it.

"What did you feel?"

She just stared at him a moment, before throwing her arms around his neck and pulling him toward her, pressing her upper body against his, she kissed him deeper, causing him to as well, starting their battle for control.

She broke the kiss a moment later, breathless and looked at him, her arms still wrapped around his neck.

She couldn't lie, she missed it… being with him.

And he couldn't lie to her either, as he too, missed being with her.

They were caught up in each other, so much that anything else that was going on then, didn't even matter anymore. It was just Cat&Beck or really Courtney&Beck, back when they were dating, back when they both still lived in Stratford.

They were still an inch from each other, catching their breath. They stared at each other, refusing to take their eyes off the other, and then leaned in closer for the kiss, kissing more and more.

He put his hands under her shirt and took it off throwing it to the side. She did the same to him, and he turned her a bit, laying her on her back, he still continued to kiss her, loving the feeling of her lips against his. As they continued to kiss—not able to stop for too long, her hands traveled down his sides and down to his sweatpants, she pulled on the string and let it fall, pushing it down his legs, he kicked it off, left in only his boxers.

She pulled away from him for only a moment to take off her leggings and shoes, leaving her in just a bra and underwear.

She knew they were probably going to make a mistake—and make it soon. But even knowing that, she knew _they _needed it. There had been too much tension between them, so much that it was building up, to the point where they both literally exploded.

But once it was over, it was over. They were doing this for closure, so they could finally move on from each other, as they didn't care for each other in that way anymore, right?

Right.

His hands traveled up and down her sides, tickling her. She couldn't help it and giggled into his mouth, her hands going into his hair, she ran her fingers through it, causing him to hit his body against hers, which caused her to feel his arousal.

She moaned against his lips, and moved in sync with him as he thrusted against her, pressing his body as close to hers as he could go.

He groaned against her lips and then let his hands travel lower, going just outside her panties, he pressed his thumb against her, causing her to cry out and move her hips towards his. He didn't again and the same thing happened. Then he put his hand inside her panties and began to play with her, causing her to moan again, he stuck two fingers inside her and moved them, her body thrusting against his, as he kept his lips on hers.

"B-Beck." She whimpered, "Please.. just—" He got the message and pulled his fingers out of her, she had her hands on the waistbands of his boxers at that point and pulled them down, her fingers "accidently" brushing against his member.

She put her fingers around it and began to pump it, causing him to bite down on her bottom lip. She did it more and more until he stopped her with a shake of his head. He pulled her up with him taking her bra off, he threw it to the side and then took her panties off of her, leaving them both completely naked.

There was no turning back now—it was really going to happen.

He reached over her, to his nightstand drawer, and pulled out a condom, sliding it on, he positioned himself at her entrance.

She looked up at him, biting her lip. She wanted it to happen, and then she didn't, she was just really lost and confused.

But luckily for her, she didn't have to think about it too much. Beck leaned forward, and started to kiss her again, deep and hard until she kissed him back. And as he kissed her, he pushed himself inside of her, causing her to moan against his mouth. She wrapped her legs around him, causing him to go in deeper, until he filled her up completely. She gasped, as he started to move, but quieted her by kissing her more, noticing that as they did, she had started to cry, her cheeks were wet, her eyes bloodshot.

He too started to cry a bit, but didn't let it stop him. She moved against him, moving in sync with him as he went faster and harder. She moaned against him, noticing that he didn't want to move away from her, that he just wanted to be as close to her as he possibly could.

What was up with that?

Then she remembered that he did that many times when he was upset, almost like she did some pretty reckless things when she was the same way.

"Beck, I—I'm—" He nodded, getting the message immediately. He moved faster, his own orgasm approaching as well.

And a few minutes later, they came, exploding at the same time. But throughout it all, he didn't stop kissing her, strange as it was.

Finally, it was over, and he moved slower, until he pulled out of her completely, throwing away the condom, he kissed her _one last time_ softly, as she kissed him back, and then fell on his back next to her.

It didn't take long for him to realize she was crying as her hands had covered her face, tears streaming down it. He grabbed them both and looked at her, he didn't say anything for her to know they had the same thing on their minds.

"It's over, Beck… it's really over." She whispered.

"Yeah." He said, "it really is, we now know… that we—we can move on."

She nodded, "We don't need each other in that way anymore, and… I don't really know how I feel about it."

"Me neither." He said, laying on his back again. "But I now know what I want."

"And what's that?" She asked him.

"I want Jade… she's the only one for me."

Those words would've hurt her if it had been a few hours before, but instead of getting upset about it, she just nodded, "Yeah, and Robbie's the one for me." She said, "This—this is exactly what we needed, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it was." He said, "Now we know we don't always need each other—you know like that."

"Yeah." She said, a small smile on her face. "We don't."

"What's going to happen to us though?" Beck asked her. "Are we still going to be fr—" He stopped himself. "_Best _friends?"

She nodded, "Uhm, yeah, yeah we are." She said, "I mean, that you can't just let—let go of, but uhm, I just want to say… that I'm sorry. Okay? I'm sorry for freaking out and threatening to take you to court. I was just—"

"Upset." He finished for her, "I know."

"And you're right you know, that I don't spend anytime with Bentley, but here's the thing, well, two things. One is, I am going to start to, you know once my life gets back on track again, and two, I don't want us to be like a divorced couple. We broke up, but that doesn't mean we can't still be best friends, right?" He nodded, a hopeful look on his face. "So, we have to be civil not only for our son, but for each other."

"Yeah," He said, taking her hand in his. "For each other."

She smiled, "I love you, bestest friend forever."

"I love you as well, Courtney." He grinned, "You know, this might sound awkward, but… we're still kind of…"

"Oh! Right, okay!" She said, and got up quickly pulling her clothes back on. "Let's uh, never speak of this again."

He laughed, "Okay…" He said, but then his tone got serious. "So it's our little secret?"

She looked at him and nodded, "Yeah, you know until we're ready to tell Jade and Robbie, but before we do that, we have to talk it over first, deal?"

He nodded, "Deal."

Because, after all, what were best friends for, if they couldn't keep a secret in between just them?

"I think—I think you should go talk to Jade, and tell her you want to keep the baby." She said, "I know you do, and it'll be good for Bentley to have a baby brother or sister."

Why she was suddenly so open minded about this, Beck didn't know. But what he did know was everything they were afraid of, all their fears and everything, it was over with. They had gotten what they needed to, out of their systems (without cheating) and it was over… all of it. Except of course their friendships.

"I will, but first… I need to tell Jade about what happened just now." He said, and Cat sighed, nodding her head.

"Yeah I think it's best I tell Robbie." She told him. "But no one else, okay? We'll tell Tori and Andre in our own time, and I'll make sure Robbie doesn't tell anyone if you make sure Jade doesn't either, okay?"

He nodded, "Okay."

And with that, she gave him a hug goodbye, disappearing out of the window, she jumped down to the ground and walked back home.

Beck was relieved, relieved that everything he was afraid of, was now over and done with and he didn't have to worry anymore.

He knew what he wanted, and he was going to get it.

It didn't take too long for Cat to get to Robbie's house, as he didn't live too far from Beck. She knocked on the door, and it opened, only for her to see Robbie was on the other side of it.

She knew she was border lining on slut that day, but she didn't care. As soon as the door opened and she saw Robbie, she threw her arms around him and kissed him. He looked shocked so she pulled away, and then began to explain herself.

"I saw Beck." She said, and he nodded, "And uhm, well, we talked things out, and uhm, now I know what I want."

"I didn't really think that was too much of an issue for you," Robbie told her, "I just figured that was his problem."

"Well, it was mine too, as you saw today from me ignoring you and all." She said and he nodded. "I—I wasn't sure what I wanted yesterday, and I'm not afraid to admit it anymore. Because the thing is, Beck had Jade and I had you and I was just missing the relationship I had with Beck. A lot. And that's what the other day with you reminded me of, since he was the only one I had ever been with like that." Robbie nodded, and she was about to continue, when she stopped for a second. "Just come outside, so I can talk to you." He nodded and shut the door. They both then sat down on the steps outside, she turned to face him, and then started to speak again.

"So, uh, I talked to Sikowitz who told me a whole lot of stuff that he knew about Beck and I, and then said that we needed closure. So I went to Beck's and we uhm, we talked for a little, and then—then he kissed me." Robbie's eyes widened, she was only afraid of what his expression would be when she told him what happened next, "And then we had sex."

"What?" He shouted, jumping up. "He cheated on Jade?"

"No! No!" She shouted, jumping up with him, "He said they were on break and that they had decided that earlier."

"But—what—why?"

"Because we need to get it out of our systems! Okay? We went two years without having sex because I was gone, and—and it was obvious we needed to do it so we could finally move on! And that's what happened, after we did it, it was over, over for good. And I was _ready_, Robbie, _ready _to move on."

He looked at her, and noticed that she really did sound sincere, and she wasn't saying it to fuck with his head.

She stepped forward, taking one of his hands in hers, and then put her other on his cheek. "I like you, now, Robbie and I want—I want to be with _you_."

"You—you do?"

She nodded, "If I didn't would I be standing here right now? Especially after having sex with Beck?" He shook his head. "Exactly."

"I—I want to be with you too." He whispered and then she leaned forward and kissed him gently. He broke the kiss though and looked at her, "No sex with Beck anymore, promise?" She laughed, and leaned in again, an inch from kissing him.

"I promise." And with that, she wrapped her arms around his neck as he put both his hands on her waist, pulling her closer, their lips connected once again, in the most amazing kiss they'd ever shared before.

Jade, meanwhile was in her bedroom, laying on her bed, her pillow pressed to her eyes, tears flowing through her eyes, pretty much totally running the pillow, but she didn't really care.

She wasn't feeling well, and just knowing she and Beck were on break after two years of being together, just killed her.

She heard a knock on her door, and didn't say anything, but she heard it open, and then close and then the weight of her bed shift as someone sat down beside her.

"Weird, the last time I was here, we got into a huge fight."

No, it wasn't Beck… was it? She turned around to face him, and saw he was in fact there. She sat up quickly and wiped her cheeks.

"What are you doing here?"

"To talk to you." He said, simply. "And tell you something."

"Okay, then talk."

He took a deep breath, "I talked to Cat today," He said, and she stayed silent, "Look, Jade. We—we have a lot of history together, and we just... needed to get rid of that tension that was very clearly in between us. If that makes sense. She was gone for two years, and we never really… had any closure on how we felt or anything like that."

"What are you saying, Beck?"

"Okay, well uhm… I talked to Sikowitz, and he was telling me how we had some things we had to deal with and the sooner we did it, the better." She nodded, agreeing. "So, I don't know, I was just bumminb out in my room and she came over, and we talked… and then, we uhm, kissed."

Jade's eyes grew about the size of golfballs, but he still continued anyway, deciding to just come out with it, "and then we had sex."

"What?" She yelled, "You—you had sex?" She was almost screaming, "How could you have sex with her?"

"Don't you get it Jade? We needed to just officially close the relationship! And guess what? After it was over, it was _really _over between us! We don't have feelings for each other like that anymore!"

"You can't have sex with someone and not have feelings for them, Beck!" Jade shouted at him, "It's not like it goes away! You're always going to have feelings for her and she's _always _going to have feelings for you! And I'm so sorry I got in the way of that!"

"No, no, no, just listen to me." He said, grabbing her wrists. "You don't fully understand. She and I—we've known nothing but of each other since the day we were born, okay? We thought we were gonna end up together and get married, and we especially did when we had Bentley, but you know… it's not like that anymore! We can now move on, I mean, she was happy it was over, and so was I! I finally knew what the hell I wanted, and it wasn't her, it was _you_."

"So you just kept these feelings to yourself the last two years, Beck? What, you really didn't love me then? Your proposal was just a lame attempt to forget about her?"

"No, no… it never was, Jade I love you, okay? I'm _in love _with you and that's never, _ever_ going to go away. My feelings for Cat are now and completely a hundred and fifteen percent platonic, as in we're always, always going to be best friends and _nothing_ is ever going to change it."

"Because you've been that all your lives," Jade said, understanding, "Okay, but still, I'm not okay with you having sex with her! That's like, no!"

"I know!" Beck shot back, "but come on! Put yourself in my position, if you were like this with your ex from Jersey, would you have done the same thing?"

She thought about it for a moment, she and her ex, Ryan had been _very _serious, maybe not as much as Beck and Cat had been, but for a good part of her life, he'd been everything to her. But the difference in between Ryan and her and Beck and Cat was that she and Ryan didn't have such a strong hold on each other, one that would always be there. They were long over, and we're sort-of friends now. They hardly talked since she moved, and though she missed him, she didn't miss him that much… at least not anywhere near as much as Cat and Beck did.

"Just think about it," Beck said, "If you and Ryan had been best friends since the day you were born, would you have—"

"I get it." Jade cut in, "Okay… I get it." She said, "I probably would've done the same thing. Cat's a bit different and she's got issues and I get that you both had to get something out of your systems, I mean, you'd have to be an idiot to not see the tension that was building up in between you two."

"So, you're okay? I mean, we're okay? And you're okay… with her?"

"Well, I have to talk to her, but yes… we're uhm, we're okay." She whispered, "And I still trust you, I mean that's never gonna change. But…" She looked down and he instantly got it, what she was thinking.

"I am not going to leave you, and I'm not going to leave this baby, okay? I will be by your side throughout this entire pregnancy. Is it the best news ever? No, but it's not the worst thing either. The timing kind of sucks, but Jade, I'm—I'm honestly and truly ready now to have a baby with you… and to be married to you and to be yours forever." She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "I can't change my past, but I can make my future better."

She didn't say anything, just wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him repeatedly. "I love you so much, Beck."

"I know." He said, smiling, "I love you… more."

She shook her head, "No... there's no way."

He nodded, "Yes there is."

"How?" She asked him and he rolled his eyes. "He leaned forward and started to tickle her stomach causing her to laugh and push him away.

"Beck! Beck! I'm going to kill you!" Jade yelled, but it was mostly covered by her laughing, "That's not fair!"

He stopped suddenly, looking up at her, his hands on her stomach. "Our baby is in there." He said, and she nodded.

"Yeah… he or she is." She said, smiling. "I'm excited to see her… in a few months."

"Me too," Beck whispered, "Me too."

"Do you think Bentley will like that?" Jade asked him, "Having a little brother or sister?" He thought about it for a moment before nodding.

"He'd love it!"

"What about Cat? How does she feel about it?"

He smiled, "She encouraged me to tell you I wanted to keep the baby, so honestly I think she's totally fine with it."

Jade blinked back tears, damn hormones. "That makes me so happy." And with that, she grabbed Beck's shirt collar, pulling him to her, she pressed her lips against his and kissed him gently.

"I love you," She murmured against his lips, running her fingers through his hair and pulling him closer. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, Jade." He said softly, "Please, please, don't ever doubt that for a minute."

"I won't." She whispered, "I won't ever doubt it again."

And with that, she fell on her back, Beck on top of her as he kissed her deeper. But after a few moments, he pulled back and lay down beside her, wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her close to him, and kissed the top of her head.

He couldn't be happier now that he knew things between him and Cat were over for good. And he _definitely _couldn't be happier that Jade had forgiven him so easily, after he'd been such a jerk to her. She was good though, like Cat she knew that he didn't have to apologize verbally for them to know he really was sorry.

Jade just knew. Jade was also the one who was carrying his baby, a new sibling for his young son.

And as he kissed Jade again, he realized… his life was _finally _the way he wanted it, to be and that thought alone made him the happiest young man alive.

Jade lay against Beck, happy that they were back together and everything was okay again. She wasn't too bothered by the fact that he had to have sex with Cat to figure out what he wanted, since she knew it was going to come up sooner or later. But she was happy that it made him finally figure out that she was what he wanted and that she was who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

They were both so happy, and content and in their own little worlds, that they didn't really want to go out and face the real world.

Not ever.

Well, soon, but just not at that very moment.

"Hey, Jade?"

"Yeah?"

"Uh, well, I was wondering, do you want to uhm…" He sat up and she did the same, looking at him a bit confused.

"Yes?"

He didn't say anything, instead getting an evil grin on his face, he launched himself further and started to tickle her, causing her to laugh out loud again as he kissed her to try and quiet her down, but still keeping up his tickling.

"Beck! Oh my god! Beck!" She laughed, pushing against him, "I'm going to kill you!"

"Nah, you wouldn't." He said and she looked at him.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't." She challenged, narrowing her eyes.

"Because," He said, shrugging. "I'm just so darn cute and adorable."

"Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that, buddy." She said, and he rolled his eyes, tickling her faster.

"Admit it! Or it'll just be worse for you!"

"No!" She laughed, "I will never admit that you are somewhat cute and adorable!"

"Somewhat?" He paused for a second, pretending to think it over, "I can live with that."

"Oh god, no." She moaned, "Why?"

"Because you love me." He teased her and she nodded.

"Yeah." She pretended to be annoyed, "I do…unfortunately."

"I bet you, you'll love me more when we have that baby." He said, and she shook her head.

"There's no way I'd love you more than I do right now. You came back to me, and really that's all that matters to me, all that… among other things, including your habit to randomly tickle me out of nowhere, that just makes me fall in love with you more and more everyday."

He just kissed her, unable to speak, and even if he could, he wouldn't even know what to say.

"I love you, Beck." She whispered and he smiled against her lips, which was enough for her to know he loved her back.

_See? All of it worked out! For both Beck&Jade and Cat&Robbie. And nooo it's not over! Still a lot more to come… since I added in Cat's un named friend who gave her the coke, as well as the issue with it and why the hell she has it._

_And of course! Jade and Beck's baby! Whooo! I'm happy they worked things out, aren't you? _

_Hehe, yeah, hopefully it makes sense what I was trying to do, but if not, it's just like this. Cat and Beck still had feelings for each other. Right? Because she had just left, and they never really had closure on it or anything and if you read in the chapters before this, you can kinda tell he misses her, and she misses him (if you read between the lines) but they were just too afraid to admit it. Not to each other, themselves or anyone else. So then the news of Jade's pregnancy just made all of that come to a boil, and yeah, that's what happened last chapter. And Sikowitz, he knows what's up, and knows that Beck has to make a decision in between Jade and Cat. He's not necessarily for Cat and Beck, he just knows how important their friendship is and understands it very well. _

_So, he tells them to "get closure" on their relationship since their's is one not many people have, and he knows that they're lucky to have it. So, that's what happened, they let their feelings be known to each other and just got rid of it completely, which is why they were happy and (somewhat sad too) that after it was over, it really was over. They had no feelings left for each other, other than a best friend kind of feeling, and just had romantic feelings for Robbie and Jade. _

_I had planned it from the very beginning and didn't just pull it out of my ass, just so you know._

_So, yeah! Hopefully that cleared it up! _

_If it still doesn't make any sense, let me know, and I'll be happy to explain it more._

_Oh, and didya notice Beck did it again? He was upset… and used Cat to make himself feel better (which I sort of address) and she knows about it, since she's always known him to do things like that when he was upset, just like he knew what she always did when she was upset._

_And yeah, I know Cat seems like a slut here, but you know… there are things going on with her… which will be revealed later, if you can tell, lol. _

_Okay, so hope you enjoyed that… and I know you're DEFINITELY going to love the next one as it's going to be ALL about Beck&Jade and about their past (sort of just like I do with Beck and Cat) so yeah, stay tuned for it! Review! _

_I'll get it up as SOON as I can, as I'll be busy the next week or so, but I'll try my best! That is if you stil like this story, lol. Just kidding! Hehe, xoxo! _


	12. Chapter 12

"Oh, Beck! Glad to see you're home." Was the first thing Beck heard once he entered his house. He put his keys down, then Bentley and then looked at his mother.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah! I…well, I need to speak with you about something." His mother said, as she started to nervously play with the dishrag in her hands. "You're grandmother, she uhm, she's coming to visit."

"Why are you so nervous about that? It's only your mother. Besides, I'd love to have her visit."

"No, no. Beck, it's not my mother."

Beck looked at her, "You mean… my paternal grandmother?"

"Yes." She said, and Beck shook his head.

"Why? Why is she coming? I haven't had any contact with my own father in years! Why the hell would she come?"

His mother bit her lip, "I'm sorry, sweetie. She said she had news for you."

Beck rolled his eyes, "I'm sure. Well, anyway. When does she come?"

"Tomorrow…" His mother looked guilty once again. "And I've got to cook and clean and set up."

"For what?" Beck demanded.

"For her arrival… she wants a party." She said, and shrugged. "I'm so sorry, Beck, but—"

He held his hand up, "it's not your fault. I've uh, got to get Bentley all cleaned up, so we'll talk later, alright?" His mother nodded and he left the kitchen.

Picking up Bentley he went upstairs and into the little boy's bedroom. Once he got him all cleaned up and ready for bed, Bentley spoke.

"Why is daddy so sad?"

Beck smiled softly and ruffled his hair. "I'm not sad, I'm just frustrated."

"What's that?"

Beck laughed at his confused expression. "It means I'm annoyed."

Another blank confused stare.

"It means I'm…mad, sad, and confused."

"Oh, okay."

Beck kissed his forehead. "Goodnight, I'll see you in the morning, okay?" Bentley nodded and yawned, turning over. Beck then left the room and turned off his light, closing the door lightly, he turned around, only to see Jade was there. "Whoa! Jade! What up with the sneak attack?"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Jade began, "your mother let me in… I didn't mean to startle you."

"No, uh, that's okay." Beck began, "you just surprised me is all."

Jade stared at him for a moment, reading him. "Is everything alright?"

Beck stared at the ground for a moment, before he looked at her, "Everything's just fine." He whispered, and she nodded.

"Okay." She whispered back, and then he leaned forward, kissing her lips gently. She kissed him back, and he released her, pulling her with him to his bedroom. They lay on his bed, her head on his chest. "Beck…" She said after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"I love you too."

She smiled, "Good."

He looked at her amused, "Had to be sure?"

She shook her head, "Nah, I just wanted to hear you say it."

"Well, trust me, I'll be saying it for a _very_ long time." He said and she rolled her eyes. "What?"

"That was cheesy!"

"No it wasn't!"

Dude! You could have put it on nachos it was that cheesy…"

He blinked at her, "You're bootleg."

She playfully smacked him, "Shut up."

**STRATFORD COMMUNITY PARK – SEVENTH GRADE **

Her feet hurt… _a lot_. Walking home at three in the morning, alone… while wearing stillettoes? Not one of her better decisions. She bent down, and took them off, rubbing her feet as she did, already feeling a whole lot better.

Holding her heels in between her fingers, she walked down the street, closer and closer to her house, when suddenly she stopped in the middle of the park.

What the hell? She wasn't getting any closer to home, if anything she was moving further away from it… and why? She normally wasn't a scared person, but since she was a small girl, and pretty much on her own… well, it wasn't good.

She stopped abruptly once she saw a bench and turned to face it. She was getting tired, and getting tired _fast. _

She heard something behind her, but ignored it. Pulling her jacket over her tiny body more, she curled on the bench and bit her lip. Being over tired and exhausted, she started to feel tears come to her eyes, willing them (as much as she possibly could) to get them to go away.

She hard the noise again and sat up, "Who's there?" She whispered, without getting an answer, obviously. "Who's there?" She said louder, and turned her head, only to see no one was there. She quickly pulled out her slvr and brought up Beck's phone number—something she should have done in the first place.

Sometimes, she really needed to think ahead.

Running her fingers through her hair, she put the phone to her ear, biting her lip.

"Hello?" A groggy voice said, but the noise happened again, causing her to stay silent. "Hello?" Her _very _tired boyfriend repeated, but she just shook her head, ending the call.

She stayed sitting on the bench again, and looked to her right and then to her left. She saw a two guys walking towards her, and grabbed her stuff, quickly putting her heels and phone inside her favorite vintage "hippie" bag, she ran towards them.

Big mistake.

"Hi! Hi! I need your help!" She shouted, and they looked at her. They looked a little older than her, maybe sixteen or fifteen, but she paid no mind to it. "Uhm, I'm sort of lost."

One of them was cute, she had to admit, with shaggy dark hair, and big brown eyes. Though, nothing beat Beck's brown eyes, that was for sure.

She spoke directly to the cute one who just looked back at her, his eyebrow raised. "What is a girl like you doing out here all alone in the middle of the night?"

"I went to a party—and I left and—" She just sighed, "It doesn't really matter, does it? I'm lost, can you just help me?"

The other guy was a bit creepy, but Cat didn't back down, she refused to.

"What's your name?" The kid asked, and she looked at him, she didn't like the other one too much so she just said the first name that came to her mind.

A name her druggie friends called her. "Blaze."

"Blaze?" The dark haired-cute boy asked, raising his eyebrow and she nodded.

"Yes, that's correct."

"Why would you mother name you that?" The creepy one asked, laughing a little, and immediately Cat grabbed his hand, squeezing so hard, he was _actually_ in pain, which told them both they shouldn't fuck with her.

"She's dead, idiot." She snapped, and then released him pushing him back so hard, he stumbled.

"Shit." He said, "She's strong as hell!"

"Forgive me for Darrell, he's a bit of an idiot." The cute boy said. "I'm Tyler by the way."

"Nice to meet you Tyler." She said, glaring hard at Darrell. "So, are you going to help me or not?"

"First, we have to get to know each other a bit more first." Tyler said, and Cat rolled her eyes.

"Fine."

"Where you from?"

"Stratford." She said, "Right here in town."

"Okay, and how old are you?"

She decided it was best to lie, again. "Fifteen."

"And do you have a boyfriend?" Darrell asked her, and she pushed him away again.

"Are you going to help me or not?" She demanded, completely ignoring the question.

"Not unless you answer the question." Darrell said, coming close to her again, causing her to step back. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"I'm going to say that I'm pretty much a hundred percent sure you don't have a girlfriend, right?" She asked, dismissing the question again. "You know, someone you can fuck anytime you want." She narrowed her eyes, while Darrell's just widened.

Tyler on the other hand, just laughed. "Oh shit! She got you good!"

"Shut up!" Darrell snapped. "I'll admit though, you are pretty good. But stupid enough to trust two guys you don't know in the middle of the night."

"Yeah, I guess so." Cat shot back. "Just like you're dumb enough to trust a girl you don't know, right?"

"Touche." Tyler muttered.

"Well, it was nice knowing you boys…thanks for the help, or lack of help." She said as she began to walk away. "See you later!"

"Wait!" Tyler said, and she stopped, "We'll help you, but first you have to do something for us."

"I'm not going to strip for you."

"No… not that." Tyler said, smacking Darrell when a sly smile came on his face. "You have to come with us."

"Why?"

"Just… do it, I promise you won't regret your decision."

Cat sighed, "Fine, you better make it worth it."

"Oh, trust me." Darrell sneered, "It'll totally be worth it." And he was back to being creepy again, just great.

"Fine." She said, narrowing her eyes, her hand on her waist. "Prove it. Yeah, let's go." She said, and then walked past him purposely bumping into him.

"Damn, she's feisty." Darrell said, and Tyler nodded.

"I know, man. Shit."

"Shit what?"

He shrugged, "Let's just take her where we want to go before she gets any ideas." He said and Darrell just nodded. A few minutes later, they got to what looked like a ravine. Cat could see a bonfire and a few people around it, smoking cigarettes and snorting what looked like… drugs.

Oh well, that was just great.

"Hey guys!" Darrell said, going to high five someone who was in the middle of a _very_ heated make out session with another girl. Cat made a face and turned away. "Anyway, this is Blaze, she was lost, but we found her and now she's gonna chill with us."

A girl with tattoos, blue hair, a nose ring, and a ring in her eyebrow turned slowly to look at Cat, her attention now on her and her alone.

"So, you're Blaze, is it?" Cat nodded. "What the hell are you doing walking around in the middle of the night on your own?" Cat nodded again. "So, how old are you, like thirteen?"

"Fifteen." Cat lied, again.

"Oh, fifteen?"

"Yeah."

"Even more dangerous, kid." She said, but got up, holding her hand out to her, "I'm Silver."

Huh, ironic considering her hair color.

"Nice to meet you." Cat said, shaking her hand, feeling cold suddenly. "Uhm, so what's all this?"

"It's just a little get together." Silver shrugged, as Cat watched Tyler go inside a van that had no wheels on the outside, but looked to be very colorful. She dug through her pockets, and pulled out a box of cigarettes.

"You want one?"

"Sure." Cat took one, and then Silver handed her the lighter. She took it, and lit her cigarette as she surveyed everything that was going on around her.

Beck _would not_ be happy if he found out where she was right now, that's for sure.

She sighed, and rubbed her stomach, deciding then that even though she should care—she really didn't give a fuck at all.

And that was _bad_.

**PRESENT DAY **

"Beck, Beck!" Jade laughed as he kept tickling her. "What on earth has gotten into you?"

"I don't know." He admitted. "But I kinda like it." He leaned forward and kissed her, biting her lower lip causing her to moan.

"Beckkkk…" She moaned his name, "I'm going to kill you!"

"You can't." He said, kissing her again. "You love me too much."

"Right, right… I knew there was a reason." She laughed, and he pulled her shirt over her head.

"You're so beautiful."

"Don't lie."

"I'm not lying."

"Yeah you are, you're such a liar."

"Nah," He smiled at her before kissing her. "I only tell the truth."

She sighed against his lips, "I know you do."

And then she kissed him again, giggling when he started to tickle her again.

**HOLLYWOOD HILLS COMMUNITY PARK – TENTH GRADE **

It had been about six months in total since Cat had been gone. Beck was sad about it, but not as sad as he thought he would be… especially since he'd been dating Jade for four months now.

He felt something tug his hand and looked down to see Bentley was pulling on him trying to get him to go with him towards the swing set faster, before another kid took it. He picked him up, and rested him on his side.

"What's up, Benny?"

"Swing!" The little boy said pointing to it, "Swing! Swing! Swing!"

"Be careful, Beck." He heard from behind him, and saw his girlfriend standing there. "He might break out into his own version of the All American Rejects song if you don't watch out."

"Haha, very funny." He said, sarcastically, leaning forward he gave her a gentle kiss. "When did you get here?"

"Oh just about five minutes ago." Jade shrugged. "I walked though… it was a nice walk… I enjoyed it a lot."

"Why did you walk?" He asked her, "Alone?"

"I don't know…" She shrugged, "I just felt like it, no big deal though… I'm here, safe and sound."

"Yeah, that's true. I'm glad." He then felt Bentley pull against him in an effort to get towards the swing set. "Alright, alright! We'll get you over there, let's go." He laughed as they walked across the park and to the swing set where Beck put Bentley in one of the seats. He then started to push him and turned to Jade, who was looking up at the cloudy sky.

"It looks like it's gonna rain." She commented as the cold air hit her. "It's freezing!"

"Yeah, but this little guy loves the rain, so it's all good." Beck teased Bentley by ruffling his hair, and then continued to push his son. "Is everything okay?"

Jade nodded, "Of course, why wouldn't it be?"

He shrugged, "You just seem a bit out of it."

"You're very observant and kind," She smiled, "But I promise…" She leaned closer to him, kissing him, "I'm okay." She muttered against his lips causing him to press forward more and kiss her deeper.

"Daddddyyyy!" He heard and they broke apart to find an upset looking two year old.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Beck laughed, "I'm supposed to be pushing you, forgive me for that."

Jade laughed, "I love him, you know… he's got spunk."

"Yeah…" Beck smiled at his son, "He gets that from his mama."

Jade was about to say something when she felt a drop of water land on her head. She gasped and looked at him, "Did you just spit on me?"

"No…I think that was—" He looked up and felt a rain drop on his head. "Uh, it's raining…"

But before she could say anything again, it _really _started to rain. Bentley looked around confused as Beck grabbed him and pulled him out of the swing, he and Jade running for cover. Laughing Jade looked around and then she rain into the rain her arms stretched wide, she twirled around, getting soaking wet.

Beck looked at Bentley who was struggling to get out of his hold and join Jade since she seemed like she was heaving a lot of fun. Beck let him go and then watched as Jade took his small hands and danced around with him.

He smiled to himself, and then joined them, taking Jade's hand and Bentley's they all danced together in the rain laughing and enjoying every second of it.

**PRESENT DAY **

"Good morning!" Beck looked up to see an unusually happy Tori standing next to his locker, leaning against the one beside it. "How are you?"

"I'm…fine." He looked at her suspiciously. "And uh, how are you?"

"No need to go all detective on me, Beck. I'm just here because I hard some like great news!"

"Yeah, but really… how are you?"

"I'm doing fine, thanks." Tori was too happy this morning. "But anyway, I heard great news!"

"So you just said…" Beck said as he closed the locker, "What is this good news you're dying to tell me?"

"Cat and Robbie are together!"

"Oh really? Well, this is great news!" But he already knew that.

"Yeah, I mean I'm happy because now Cat can get over you and you can get over her, and just move on with your life with Jade, right?"

Now he was officially suspicious, and that wasn't always a good thing when Beck got suspicious.

"I'm sorry?"

"Come on, Beck." Tori gave him a serious look, "It was obvious from the moment Cat returned, that you two needed to get closure. I mean, even Jade could see it. So I'm assuming you did, and whatever you did, great. Because now you two go move on with your lives with other people."

"Yep, that's the plan." Beck smiled at her, as he saw Jade walk in, his smile fading as he saw how pale she was. "If uh, you'll excuse me… I have to go help Jade."

Tori nodded, "Of course." She said quietly, and he left her at his locker, going to his sick fiancé.

"Hey, Jade." He said gently, grabbing her arm and pulling her into him. "Are you alright?"

She shook her head. "This morning sickness is going to _kill _me."

"Don't say that." Beck said, "Trust me, when Cat was pregnant hers was the same, if not worse."

"Really?"

Beck nodded.

"Huh, maybe I can learn a lot from her." He nodded again and kissed the top of her head gently.

"Do you need anything?"

"Uhm, maybe some water?"

"You got it. Why don't you come with me and we'll—" He was cut off when Jade's head turned in the direction of the front doors of the school, her eyes widening.

Cat and Robbie stood there, Cat leaning against him and giggling as he laughed with her, his arm wrapped around her shoulder and holding her close. But it wasn't that that was so surprising to Jade; it was how their appearances.

Robbie's hair was straightened, falling into his eyes, and he was wearing a nice shirt with the tie loose around his neck. He was also wearing skinny jeans and his usual vans shoes. While Cat on the other hand was dressed in a short skirt that stopped mid thigh, a black tank top, a pink blazer and tan colored five inch heels. Her hair was straightened and falling into her eyes a bit as well, her make-up perfect, her nails done. She looked beautiful, perfect… everything Jade was not.

They looked like the most amazing, well dressed couple there.

Which they probably were.

Jade looked down at her black maternity shirt and then suddenly felt inadequate. Beck, seeming to sense this, leaned into her and whispered for her to go with him while everyone started to talk to Cat and Robbie. Hollywood Arts new 'it" couple, it seemed.

Beck pulled her with him into Sikowitz's classroom, happy to find it was completely empty. He pulled her towards him and put his hands on her waist as he sat in one of the chairs. Then he just stared at her, a knowing look on his face, until she decided to talk.

She rolled her eyes, "I'm jealous, Beck." She admitted. "That Cat looked pretty damn perfect and beautiful and I'm—not."

"What makes you say that?"

"I'm pregnant!" She cried, "I'm only going to get fatter and I'm going to look worse and—" She was cut off when Beck suddenly stood up and pressed his lips to hers. He kissed her for a moment, and then broke away.

"I love you, Jade…okay? A pregnant belly is _not _going to change that."

"You say that now, but—"

"Jade! Do you think Cat got like that over night?"

"It seems like it." She muttered, but instead of getting on her about what she'd said, Beck just shook his head, ignoring it.

"She was pregnant too, if you remember. She had the same troubles you did, worried that she was just gonna look fat and unattractive, everyone has that fear." He then put his hands on her face, and looked into her eyes, "you're beautiful no matter what okay?"

She seemed like she didn't want to believe him, but instead of questioning it more she just nodded her head. "Okay." She said softly and pressed her lips against his just as the bell rang. They kissed a bit more for a second, and then broke it, sitting down in the seats.

The whole class came in, Tori and Andre stopping to say hi, take the seats near them, and then talk about whatever was going on in their world.

The bell rang again, just as Sikowitz walked into the room. He threw his bag somewhere across the room and then sat down on the stage.

"How are we all doing today?" He asked, pointedly looking at Beck… and Cat who wasn't there. "Where is Cat? And… where is Robbie?"

Tori shrugged, "I was just talking to them, but they said they were gonna go get coffee before class started, so they're probably doing that."

Sikowitz was about to respond when they heard the unmistakenable giggle that was Cat's, and then the door opened, revealing a _very _disheveled Robbie and an overly giddy and happy Cat.

"What's up you guys? You're late." Sikowitz said, but Cat just shrugged.

"We know." She took her seat beside Robbie and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Oh, I see what's going on here…" Sikowitz said pointing in between them. "You guys are a brand new couple and now you're acting all giddy and happy about it, am I right?"

Cat and Robbie looked at each other for a moment before nodding their heads. "Uh-huh." Robbie responded. "We're together, it's official."

"Ah, I see. Well, please keep in mind that school starts at a certain time and you must be here on time, alright?" They nodded and he smiled at them, "Though I am happy for you both, congrats."

"Thanks." Cat said quietly, and then looked at her hands. She then looked up at Beck and smiled at him while he winked at her. She then rolled her eyes, and turned to face the front.

This whole interaction between them did not go unnoticed by Tori who was now more confused than ever.

When had they made up? And why had it been so quickly?

She just wanted to know what the hell was going on.

The class continued without too much interruption, so when the bell rang, and the students all got up eagerly, it was a shock to the teacher.

"Really guys? I thought we were having fun!"

"We were," Andre said, "But uh.. we've got other classes to get to."

"Oh, right… alright well, enjoy the rest of your day. See you guys later!"

"Cat…" Cat heard and she turned her head to find Robbie was trying to get her attention, he motioned for her to go with him and she did, only to find herself in the janitor's closet. She giggled, and wrapped her arm around his neck.

"Well, isn't this interesting? I feel like this closet sure gets around…" She trailed off, biting her lip she looked up at Robbie. "Not that that's a bad thing."

"No… I understand." He smiled at her, and kissed her gently. "You know, I'm surprised Sikowitz didn't say anything about my hair."

She laughed, "I know… but it's cute. It makes you look like a total badass." She said, and then kissed him a bit deeper than the last time. "And I love it."

"Yeah… a lot of ladies have been looking my way today you know…" He teased her, "They all like this badass look."

She rolled her eyes, "You just keep thinking that." And with that she connected her lips to his once again, kissing him deeper and harder than the last, the both so lost in the moment, they didn't hear the bell ring.

And as Robbie pushed her against the wall, Cat realized she really didn't give a damn if they were late again. All that mattered to her was Robbie. And their moment.

Right then, nothing else mattered.

Meanwhile, Tori was looking for Cat, wondering where the hell she was since she wasn't answering her phone. She heard the sound of moaning coming from the janitor's closet and looked in there to see her familiar red hair.

Her cheeks turned red, as she realized what was going on. But before she could leave, it stopped and then the door opened.

"Hi!" Tori said, over exaggerated her bright attitude, while Cat and Robbie just stared at her strangely. "I uhm… was just walking past… looking for you, actually… Cat!" She said, emphasizing her name.

"Uhm, why?"

"We have to get to class! And I need to talk to you about something."

Cat just blinked her big violet eyes, and then slowly nodded. "Okay…" She said and then kissed Robbie softly, smirking at the dazed look on his face as she released him. And then without another word, she linked arms with Tori and walked with her down the hall.

"What's up, Tori?" She asked, letting her go.

"Uhm, nothing… but how are you and Robbie doing?" She asked her as they stopped at Cat's locker.

"Fine."

"That's—that's really good."

"Yeah…" Cat turned to her, "Something on your mind, Tori?"

It was silent in between the two girls, while Cat stared at her for a moment, motioning for her to say something, _anything_.

"Why are you and Beck suddenly okay?" She asked her. "I mean the other day you threatened to take him to court and in class you guys were all… buddy buddy! Like nothing had happened!"

Cat opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Until something finally came to her, "He's my best friend, Tori." She said, turning to her locker, and putting a book in it. "You know that."

"Yes, but unlike normal best friend relationships, most don't involve a child!"

Cat's mood suddenly changed _again_, she turned to her, her hands on her hips, clearly looking pissed off. "We were together at one point, or actually for like four years if you want to be technical and then… we had a child! Okay, like what's the big deal? Maybe I wanted to get along for my son's sake."

"You threatened to take him to court." Tori said, "That's not something you just… get over quickly."

"Well, we did." Cat said, "So, you should get over it too." She added quietly.

"So, it just happened…" Tori said, moving her arms in a motion that meant she was trying to figure it out. "You guys just got over the issue… that fast?"

"Well, yeah…" Cat said, putting a strand of hair behind her ear. "We always get over things fast, it's how we've been our whole lives."

"But this—this is major." Tori said, "That's not something you can just get over quickly."

Cat then scoffed, annoyed, and rolled her eyes. "Tori, get over it! Okay? It's not that big of a deal. Stop being so damn nosy."

Tori stared her down, "Fine… but just tell me one thing." Cat just stared back at her. "What are you hiding?"

Cat stepped back, a bit taken aback by what she'd said. "There's nothing I'm hiding!"

"Are you still secretly in love with him?"

"No! Are you kidding me? I have Robbie now! I don't… we're just friends now, and that's—that's all it's going to be. He has Jade, I have Robbie."

To Tori she sounded like she was just trying to convince herself, when really she was telling Tori the truth—minus what she was really trying not to tell her.

"You never forget your first, Cat."

Tori was really getting on her nerves by being so damn nosy. And even though she hadn't cleared it with Beck yet, she just decided she should tell Tori, and if she freaked out… whatever. Tori was getting really annoying and she knew she'd stop if Cat was just up front with her.

Without a word, Cat slammed her locker shut, and then grabbed Tori's wrist, dragging her to a more private part of the school where she knew no one would hear them or disturb them.

"Why are we here?" Tori began, "I mean like—"

"Beck and I had sex." Cat cut her off, her tone a bit icy as she was annoyed with her. "We needed closure… and we had sex. That's why we're okay now… we got whatever we needed to out of our systems and now we're… back to normal. Or what normal for us is, anyways."

Tori stared at her, a bit speechlessly, and after a few moments, straightened herself up. "Okay." She said, "I get it… besides," She narrowed her eyes at the younger girl. "Everyone could tell you two needed closure. So… it's about time."

Cat's eyes widened for a moment before she just rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know. Sikowitz was the one who told me, and apparently Beck as well."

"Even he knew. See?"

"Yeah, whatever, Tori."

"Do Jade and Robbie know?"

Cat nodded, "Yeah, we were up front with them about it… Robbie took it fine, after I explained to him what happened, but since we weren't together yet he didn't flip a shit, and Jade, I'm not really sure—"

"Wait." Tori held her hand up, "Did Beck cheat on Jade?"

Cat shook her head. "No… he said they were on break… while he figured things out. They broke up for like… a day or whatever."

Tori sighed, "Okay… well that's good." She finally said. "That's good that you guys… worked it out."

"Yeah, totally…" Cat said, looking away from her.

"So uhm, we're already late… we should get to class." Tori said and Cat nodded in agreement.

"Yeah we should."

And as they finally got to class, Tori couldn't help but feel there was something Cat wasn't telling her, and truth be told it bugged the hell out of her.

After school, Robbie caught up to Cat at her locker and leaned against the other one, smiling. She looked up and smiled at him, reaching up she kissed him gently.

"What's up?"

"I was wondering… what are your plans Friday?"

A smile spread on Cat's face for a moment until it disappeared, causing her to groan. "I have to go to some lame party my dad's throwing. Like for my family that's coming in and a business deal he's trying to make. It's lame, but I have to go." She then looked up at him, innocently and batted her eyes. "Will you come?"

"Of course." He smiled at her, "Just so you, you know won't lose your sanity from the boredom."

She squealed and kissed him. "Great! I'll go invite everyone else as well!"

"Wait," He grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him as she'd started to run off. "You want everyone else there too?"

Cat nodded, "Well yeah, I mean… I want Bentley there, so I'd have to invite Beck and he'll bring Jade and then I can't just leave out Tori and Andre."

He nodded since it all made sense. "Okay."

She then ran off and he ran his fingers through his hair letting out a sigh, he went to his own locker and got ready to leave.

Cat ran out to the parking lot, where she saw Beck and Jade about to get in his car. Well, sort of, they were more like making out, with Jade leaning against it, her arms wrapped around his neck.

"Beck! Beck!" She called, causing them to break apart. "I need to talk to you." She said as soon as she'd gotten close enough. "Well, actually, both of you."

"Okay." Jade said, "Go ahead."

"First, sorry for you know interrupting you guys, and second… my dad is having this lame party thing for my family that's visiting and also a business deal of some sort… I honestly wasn't paying attention when he told me, but anyway," She turned to Beck, "Will you bring Bentley? Of course, you both can come as well, but I'd really like it if he was there."

Beck rubbed the back of his neck, for a moment, before answering, "Well, my grandmother is in town, then and we have to spend time with her."

"Bring her with you!" Cat spoke brightly, "And your mother as well!"

Beck and Jade shared a look in between them, communicating silently while Cat just looked at them, "Please," She whispered, "I really want Bentley there."

Beck sighed, "Okay… fine. We'll be there." He said and Cat squealed, she hugged him and then hugged Jade.

"And of course, my best friend and stepsister!" She said, before releasing them, squealing once more, and then running back towards the school.

Jade turned away from Beck for a moment walking to the other side, she got in, Beck doing the same and sighed. "My mother's there…" She said. "And… I don't know if I want to be around her right now."

"Well, it's for Cat." Beck spoke, "She really wants us there and plus, it'd be good for Bentley to be around her and get a taste of what her side of the family is like."

"And what is it like? I can't imagine good since her father's a complete dick towards her."

"Pretty much the same as her father. They're stuck up lawyer, doctor types who want nothing more than for their grandchildren and children to grow up and do the same thing." He pressed his hand on the steering wheel as a memory of his and Cat's past came to him. "They didn't even support her dreams to become a singer, a dancer, or a cheerleader."

"But… she goes to Hollywood Arts." Jade said, "I mean… they have to have at least supported something."

"They don't." Beck shrugged, "Her father pays for it mostly so she's out of the house and he doesn't have to deal with her."

Realization passed over Jade's face as she nodded, coming to her conclusion. "So pretty much they just neglect her."

"Yeah, they're… just mean to her, and pretty much since her mother died… it got worse… they blame her for her death and… it's just really bad. So I'd like to go, to make sure she's okay. Because with Cat… you never know. Her drug addiction was a sign of that neglect and… her being sent off just made it, well worse for her relationship with her father."

"So the drugs and eating disorder… that was a cry for help?" He nodded.

"Yeah. Pretty much."

It was silent for a few more moments before Beck spoke again. "Her mother's parents they're pretty mean to her, but from what I've heard and seen is her father's parents… they're pretty fine with her. She stayed with them in fact when she went away for treatment."

"Wow." Jade said, taking it all in. "But what about her bipolar disorder and schizophrenia? What'd they do about that?"

"Thought it was for attention. I honestly don't even think her mother's parents or that side of the family know she went away for treatment."

"Really?" He nodded again.

"Yeah, and…" He sighed, looking down for a moment, before looking back up at her. "I don't even think they know she had a baby either."

Jade's eyes widened. "What?"

"Her father… just kept a lot from them and I have a really big feeling a lot is going to be said Friday night… so get ready."

"Oh…" Jade said as he started to car. "I'll be as ready as I can be." She narrowed her eyes and looked out of the window. "Trust me."

**HOLLYWOOD ARTS HIGH SCHOOL – TENTH GRADE **

"So, where are you taking me on our first date?" Beck heard a voice and looked up to see Jade standing above him. His head was in his locker, so he pulled it out and then put his hands on the top of the door.

"Our first date?" She nodded, "You're already asking me that?"

"Well, yeah. You asked me… and I said yes… so I think we should go…" She trailed off, and shrugged her shoulders. "I really don't know. But nothing sappy like a movie and dinner."

"Darn, you blew my cover." He joked and she rolled her eyes. "I had that planned this whole time."

"Come on, Beck! I mean… what about… bowling?"

"Bowling?" She nodded and he raised his eyebrows. "Is that really what you want to do?" She nodded.

He grinned at her, "Fine… bowling it is, then."

…

"Okay, this is so not what I had in mind when I suggested we go bowling." Jade said, as Beck picked up Bentley and put him in one of the chairs. "I mean… what's a two year old gonna do?"

"He's into it." Beck said, "And besides, my mom had to work, so there was no one around to babysit, I'm sorry."

"Yeah, I know, you told me." She waved him off, and then, she surprisingly grinned at him. "But it's definitely a twist." She said, leaning in closer to him, "I've never been on a date with… well, _two guys _before."

"That's sick!" He laughed, "That's my son!"

"I know… but still. I don't know, I'm into it." She then stepped up and picked up her ball. Holding it up, she threw it and then watched as all the pins were knocked over. She twirled around and threw her hands in the air. "In your face, Oliver!"

"Yeah, yeah… you think you're good now…just wait like five seconds."

"Sure thing." She taunted, unknowingly challenging him. "Let's see you beat that."

"Careful there, Jade. I'm a bowling champion."

"Right, I'm sure you are." She took a seat beside Bentley and crossed one leg over the other, putting her hands on her knee, she just blinked her eyes at him innocently. He just shook his head, and then threw the ball.

To her surprise, he knocked them all down as well.

Her mouth dropped open and beside her, Bentley giggled. She turned to the little boy. "Did you see that? Did you see your daddy just beat me?"

The little boy nodded and she grinned and idea coming to her. She picked him up and then got her ball. Putting him on the ground, she gently pushed him forward, bending down, she wrapped both arms around him, held the ball in front of him, and then looked behind her to see Beck had an amused look on his face.

"Okay, Bentley. This is what I need you to do." She said and he looked at her, for a moment before reaching towards the pins, he started to walk towards them, but she held him back, laughing. "No, silly! You have to push this one to get them all to fall, okay?" She then held his small hands in hers, and then put the ball down. Then she pushed it forward, helping him push it.

Then they watched as it rolled all the way down, hit the middle one and then like magic all the pins fell down.

She tickled him and then picked him up, kissing his cheek. "We did it!"

"Now, how is that possible?" Beck asked her, "You and a two year old boy managed to make another strike… Jade I am impressed."

Jade smiled at him, "Well, you know… I'm just that good I guess." She laughed when he gave her a look, and then handed his son to him. "Bentley's my good luck charm."

"Uh-oh." Bentley said, causing them to look at him.

Beck leaned in close, and then pulled away. "What's that? Oh, he's afraid he's gonna take you from me."

"Well, Beck… you do have some competition here," Jade said. "Bentley's just too adorable, and you're you know… you."

"Thanks, that compliment means so much to me." He spoke sarcastically and she just shook her head, taking Bentley from him.

"You're turn."

…

"Okay, Bentley's in bed, and my mom's home, so… we can go home if you'd like." Beck told her, gently closing the door to Bentley's room. Jade nodded. She was so surprised with how well she was being towards Bentley since she didn't really like kids and didn't think she'd ever be the mother type. But for some reason, she was just… drawn to him instantly… and whatever it was, she didn't say she hated it. In fact, she liked it a lot.

They started the short walk to her house, where at the front door, she turned to him. She had a huge smile on her face, which was reassuring to Beck.

"I had an amazing night tonight."

"I'm so sorry about Bentley… but I hope he wasn't too much a problem."

"Did you not just hear me, Beck? I said I had an amazing time… and Bentley being there, just made it even better."

"Really?" He said and she nodded. It was silent in between them for a moment, before Jade leaned in, her hand on his cheek, she pushed forward and kissed him gently as he responded just as sweetly. They then broke the kiss and smiled at each other for a moment before Jade unlocked her door.

"Bye." She whispered.

"Bye." He whispered back and once the door shut, he started his walk home, a huge, happy smile on his face, one that hadn't been there in weeks.

And it was all thanks to Jade, because now… now he knew it was true. What Andre, Tori, Robbie, and his mother were telling him all along.

He'd be okay. He knew it and that was more than enough to reassure himself that not much had changed about him.

He only just… moved on. And truthfully he had every right to. Two months was a long time, and since he hadn't heard from her, he figured it was a good time as any. He was sick of being depressed and lonely. It was time to change.

And he was doing just that.

_I broke this up into two chapters. I figured you deserved it after the incredibly long wait. The next one will be up shortly and there's a lot of drama in it! Lots of things are revealed._

_I also normally don't end a chapter with a flashback, but hey… I decided to switch it up._

_Hope you enjoyed! And review! Next chapter will be up tomorrow! Thank you guys so much for your patience. Xoxo._


	13. Chapter 13

_I have a hater. Ah, oh well._

* * *

><p>Jade laughed as Bentley ran around the house, laughing and screaming as Robbie chased him. He eventually caught up to him though and wrapped his arms around his waist, picking him up he held him upside down as Cat came over to them, shaking her head.<p>

"You're gonna make him pass out!" She said as Robbie faced him back upright and gently put him back down on the floor. "Okay, so…" She bent down to his level, "Are you excited to spend the day with mommy?"

Bentley nodded his head excitedly, causing her to laugh.

"Guess that's a yes." Beck mused, as he handed Cat a bag of stuff he needed for the day. He then pulled her to the side, to talk to her. "You took your medication right?"

Since Cat had asked him a day ago, if it was alright if she take Bentley for a day, he'd been a bit worried as she wasn't exactly the most stable person. But after talking to Jade, he figured it was best for his son and his son's mother to spend some time together.

Cat rolled her eyes, "Yes, Beck. You have nothing to worry about, I won't like, flip out on him… like last time… we uh, were alone." She looked down nervously for a moment, before looking back at him again. "Maybe this isn't such a good idea, after all."

"You can't back out now, you got him all excited. And also, he's _your _son, you have every right to spend a day with him."

"Yeah, but Beck. I don't know him as well as you do, I missed two years of his life."

Beck shrugged, "So… make those two years up to him today. Cat, you've got nothing to worry about, everything will be fine, okay?" She nodded and then he gave her a quick hug. With that, they both walked back to Bentley who was now being tickled to death by Jade.

"Okay, Bentley, are you ready to go?" He nodded and immediately ran up to his father, jumping up, Beck caught him and hugged him. "You be good today, okay? No wandering off."

"Okay, daddy." He said and he hugged him one last time before giving him to Cat who held him against her tightly. He then started to squirm, so she put him back down again, and held his hand. He looked at his mother, "What are we going to do today?"

"I think we should do… whatever you want," She told him and he grinned.

"Anything?"

"Anything."

"Can we go… " He thought for a moment, "To Disneyland?"

"I love Disneyland!" She squealed, causing Beck, Jade, and Robbie to laugh. "Of course we can go!"

"Yay!" He shouted and then he ran off out the door, Cat quickly ran up to him.

"No running away!" She scolded him, "You could get hurt!"

"Sorry, mommy."

"Okay…" Cat looked at Beck and Jade, a bit awkwardly. "Well, Robbie will be with me, so you don't really have to worry and… uh yeah."

"Cat, relax." Beck told her, "Remember what I said." She closed her eyes for a moment and nodded. She knew Bentley was her son, but still it was a bit nerve-racking to be spending the whole day with someone who barely remembers who you are.

"Bye daddy!" Bentley called as Robbie safely buckled him in the backseat. "By Jadie!"

"By Bentley! Have a good time today, okay?" Jade called and he nodded.

"Kay!"

"Alright then, we… will see you later." Cat said, she gave them both a hug, and walked to the car with Robbie. They both got in and within a couple minutes, had backed out and were gone.

Jade turned to Beck, "She'll be okay right?"

He nodded, "Yeah… I believe in her. She'll be fine."

Jade sighed, "I hope so."

* * *

><p>They were about half way through thier day at Disneyland, taking a break to eat lunch, when Cat suddenly remembered she had to take her medication.<p>

She pulled out her pill bottles, and then put them on the table. She spread them out, and then took them in her hand.

"What's that for?" Bentley asked her and she looked at him, "Are you sick? Daddy makes me take that when I'm sick."

"Yeah… in a way." She told him, realizing she'd forgotten a pill. She pulled it out, and poured what she needed into her hand, while still looking at him. "If I don't take these bad things will happen."

"Like what?"

She didn't answer him as she'd already taken some of the pills and was now swallowing. Robbie came back then with their food and Bentley smiled. Robbie smiled back and handed him his chicken tenders and fries.

"Are you having fun?" Robbie asked as Cat continued to take her medication. He nodded and Cat smiled, "Well, that's good. What's your favorite ride so far?"

Bentley shrugged. They noticed that whenever Robbie talked to Bentley he didn't really answer him much, even sometimes with Cat. She just figured it was because she didn't know them as well as he knew Beck and Jade and that was why he was acting the way he was.

"What ride do you want to go on next?" Cat asked him and he looked at her.

"I dunno."

"Well, do you have one in mind?" He shook his head.

And that was where Cat felt stuck. She was trying to bond with him, but he was making it somewhat difficult.

"How about we go on my favorite ride?" She suggested, "Pirates of the Carribean?"

His face lit up, "I like that one!"

She smiled, "I was hoping you did."

"It's my favorite."

"Well, we have something in common then." She reached over and messed up his hair, causing him to look up at her, an annoyed expression on his face. She just laughed and told him to hurry up and finish his food so that they could go on the ride.

It was when they were in line for the ride, when Cat started to feel funny. Like she wanted to throw up—or pass out. But she ignored the feeling, and kept going, a smile on her face as Bentley bounced up and down beside her excitedly.

Robbie, however, noticed and looked at her. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, "I'm fine. Just feeling a little weird, but I'm guessing I'm just… tired or something."

"You…you did take your medication, right?" He asked and she rolled her eyes nodding. "Okay, good, just making sure."

"We're almost there!" Cat exclaimed a smile on her face as Bentley bounced next to her. He didn't seem to hear her however, so she just ignored it figuring that he was just super excited or something.

They soon got on the ride, as it started to move, Cat's nausea seemed to get worse. She felt _even more_ lightheaded so she took a sip of her water. It seemed to work, so she kept drinking it and enjoyed the ride as best as she could.

* * *

><p>After a fun day at Disneyland, Robbie had pulled up to his house. She was dropping him off there and then taking Bentley straight to Beck's.<p>

"I still don't understand." Robbie said, "Why can't you just take him back to your place again?"

"Because my dad's never met him. And plus, Beck wouldn't go for that. I don't even think Bentley would either, it's… it's just not the right time. I'd want him to get to know me a bit more first." She said, turning to look at her sleeping son in the backseat. "I'm sure with time, we'll be okay and he'll stay over."

Robbie nodded, and in the light, noticed how pale she looked. "Are you sure you're okay? You look… not well."

"I'm fine." She spoke quietly. They both then got out of the car and switched places, her going to the driver's side. Once she was in and her seat was buckled, she once again ignored the nausea, and turned to her boyfriend who was leaning against the window.

She reached her hand up and put her fingers in his hair, then she leaned her chin up and kissed him softly, pulling him to her, bringing him closer.

"Thank you for an amazing day," She whispered, "I'll call you when I get home."

He nodded, "Drive safe. And please, Cat. If you're not feeling well, just go home and let Beck pick him up or something."

"It's fine…I'm fine. Okay? I promise."

Even though she really wasn't and it was worrying her. He just nodded and kissed her forehead before wordlessly walking away. She then drove off, her dizzyness getting worse. She almost felt like she was about to black out. Somehow though, she made it a few blocks down.

(_What are you doing? You're so stupid! You could get yourself and your son killed!) _

She looked around, where the hell had that come from?

(_You're making a huge mistake!_)

"Shut up." She whispered, knowing now what was going on. She was also a bit pissed off since wasn't her medication supposed to make them go away? Apparently not for too long, she assumed.

(_You're gonna pass out! And you know why? Because you're a fucking idiot!_)

"Stop!" She shouted suddenly, and then stopped the car so hard, she moved forward a bit. She was at a stop sign, so she just stayed there for a moment. "Stop saying that!"

"Mommy?" She heard, causing her to panic. She looked behind her and noticed Bentley was now awake.

Shit.

(_Good going. Now your son is awake. Want him to think you're crazy? You're doing a very, very great job of that!_)

"Why are you tormenting me?" She asked quietly. "Leave me alone!"

She then started to panic a bit, her hands shaking, she felt herself go numb. What was going on? Why was this happening?

"Mommy!" He shouted and she looked at him, calming herself down—or at least trying her best.

"What is it?"

"There's a truck coming."

And that was the last thing she saw before it crashed into her car.

* * *

><p>"Where the hell are they?" Beck snapped walking back and forth in the kitchen, Jade and his mother were sitting at the stools on the counter, looking at him helplessly as he kept trying to reach Cat on her cell phone. "She knows when to bring him back, why isn't she back?"<p>

"Calm down, Beck. Something might have happened, maybe they… ran out of gas, or something." His mother suggested, "Or maybe her phone's dead."

"No." He stared at his phone, "It's not dead. It's ringing and ringing and she's not answering."

"Just… calm down, okay?" Jade said, going over to him and putting her hands on his shoulders. Have you tried, Robbie?"

"I didn't even think of that." He then quickly dialed Robbie's number.

"Hello?"

"Where is Cat?" Beck snapped into the phone, "Is she with you?"

"No… I was actually going to call you and ask you that myself. She dropped me off over an hour ago.. and said she was going to drop Bentley off at your house. She's not answering her phone and—"

"I know that." He said, now worried beyond belief. If she wasn't with Robbie, then where the hell was she? His phone then beeped and he saw that it was Cat calling him. "Dude, I'll call you back. She's calling me now."

"Sure thing. Tell her to call me too." He nodded even though Robbie wasn't able to see it, and hung up, quickly going to the other call.

"Cat, where are you and why aren't you—"

"Is this Beck?" An unfamiliar voice asked, and his eyes widened.

"Uh, yes. Who is this?"

"This is Jared, I'm a cop."

Beck literally felt his heart stop for about a second.

"Uh, okay… and why are you calling me? Is everything okay?"

"Beck?" Jade asked, quietly once noticing his distressed expression. "Is everything okay? What's going on?"

"I'm sorry, sir. But no."

Beck almost dropped his phone. "Why are you calling me on Cat's phone?"

"Well, it kept ringing and I noticed it while I was investigating the accident—"

"Wait, accident?" Beck repeated.

"Yes. There was an accident. A drunk driver hit a small black Lexus going about 50 miles per hour in a 25 mile per hour zone. The car was hit and flipped over a couple times. The driver and the passenger are currently on their way to the hospital as we speak."

"Was the passenger a girl with red hair and a little boy with blonde hair?" Beck decided to ask anyway, even though it was obvious since he had Cat's phone.

"Yes." The cop answered a moment later. "A little boy about four years old and a girl about seventeen, am I correct?"

"Yes. And which hospital is that?" He saw Jade's eyes widen, and heard his mother gasp.

"Before I release that information I must know what relation you are to—"

"The little boy is my son! And the girl is his mother!" He shouted, now losing it. "Now tell me where the hospital is… _now_." His voice got lower as he spoke, nearly scaring the crap out of Jade who'd never heard it before.

"Cedars Sinai." The officer answered and with that Beck hung up the phone, he quickly grabbed his keys, pulling Jade with him.

"Beck, what's going on?" Jade asked him as he pulled her outside to her car. His mother quickly followed, and he looked at them both.

"There was an accident, a drunk driver hit Cat's car and both Cat and Bentley are in the hospital. We have to go now." He said, getting in the driver's seat. Jade and his mother both exchanged looks, before looking back at him. "What are you waiting for?" He snapped, "Hurry up!"

The two women quickly got in the car and Beck pulled out, probably breaking a few speeding laws and angering his mother, but he didn't give a shit. It was an emergency.

He ignored both Jade and his mother's attempts to try to talk to him about what happened, he really wasn't in the mood for conversation.

Just as he had parked the car and ran up to the entrance, he turned to Jade. "Call Robbie and the others and let them know what's going on." He said, and Jade nodded.

He walked over to her and kissed her forehead before running inside.

Jade turned to his mother, "Do you think they're okay?"

She had tears in her eyes, but nodded her head, "We can only hope. It's all we have left."

Jade nodded and then quickly called Robbie, bringing the phone to her ear. She really hoped they were okay.

She didn't know Cat very well yet, but what she did know was that if serious something had happened to Bentley… Cat (or Beck) would _never_ be the same again.

* * *

><p>The first thing she thought of when she opened her eyes; was how <em>badly <em>her head hurt. Well, that and her throat, which felt like it was on fire.

Though her vision was blurry, she could see someone was next to her, looking intently at her, while someone else was holding her hand. She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes, opening them a moment later, she was able to clearly see who was in the room with her.

And where she was.

"What—what happened?" She whispered, her voice raspy, and then she heard a gasp. A moment later, she felt her body being crushed against someone's who was hugging her pretty tight.

"Oh my god! You're awake!"

She looked up and the person backed up, only for her to see it was Tori. "What the—where am I?"

"Oh, I'm sorry." Tori spoke, rubbing her arm, comfortingly. "But there was an accident."

Her eyes widened, "What? When?"

"About four days ago…"

'Four days' Cat mouthed the words, "What—okay… someone better start talking and—" She cut herself off once she remembered. "Where's Bentley?"

"He's—"

"Where is he?" She demanded, "And Beck?"

"I'm right here." She heard, and she turned to see Beck walk in through the door. Robbie was right behind him. She looked down and realized it was Trina (randomly enough) who'd been holding her hand. "How do you feel?"

"Where's Bentley." She repeated for the third time. Her eyes filled with tears as everyone just remained silent. Andre who'd been sitting the whole time waiting for her to wake up, just shook his head. "Someone tell me."

"Cat." Beck spoke, "First, there's something you should know."

"And what's that?"

"Well, the accident was caused by a drunk driver, so there's no absolute way it was _your _fault."

"Yes it was!" Cat suddenly shouted, her tears falling down her cheeks. "I wasn't feeling well, and I stopped at the stop sign and started to hear the voices and Bentley was trying to warn me but I wasn't listening to him, and then at the last second, I looked up and saw it coming towards us."

"Wait, back up first." Andre finally spoke, "Did you say you heard the voices?"

Cat nodded.

"And when did that start happening?" Robbie asked her, sitting beside her and gently taking her hand.

"I don't know… after I dropped you off."

"But you said you were fine and you took your medication and—"

"I don't know what happened!" She yelled, "I don't know and right now I don't care, I just want to go see my son… that's all."

Robbie looked at Beck, who looked back at him, while Tori and everyone just shifted uncomfortably. She looked around, noticing Jade wasn't even there either.

"Where's Jade?"

"She's with Bentley." Beck said.

"Where is he?"

"He's in another room."

"Then why won't you tell me if he's okay or not?" She demanded.

(_Because you hurt him really bad! That's why, you idiot!_)

"Shut up!" She yelled covering her ears with her hands. "You got me into this mess!"

"Cat… no one said anything." Tori said, causing her to look up at her. Her eyes then widened, "Shit."

"What? What?" Trina asked her, "Is she—"

"Yes." Tori nodded, "I'm gonna go get her doctor, right now."

"But… no! I just want to know how….how Bentley is doing…" She whimpered, now breaking down and crying. "Why won't anyone just tell me?"

"Because you're not stable right now, Cat." Beck finally said, "I don't want you to have another breakdown or attack or something once you find out. The doctors need to medicate you first."

"Why? So I can be stoned when you tell me?" Cat snapped, "Just because I have problems doesn't mean I need to be drugged when I hear bad news! Okay? It's not fair that everyone treats me like a damn child!"

"Well you're acting like one!" Beck yelled back. "I'm not blaming you for the accident at all, since the driver was drunk. But when you knew you weren't feeling well or something was wrong, you should've stayed at Robbie's or where ever you were and called someone for help. That I'll admit was irresponsible."

Cat didn't answer; she just bit her lip as the tears flowed down her cheeks. She and Beck hadn't gotten into a fight since before she left, and hearing him yell at her again was just… too much for her.

"I did pull over." She said, her voice breaking. "I stopped when I knew something was wrong."

"But you didn't call anyone." Beck responded. "That was your mistake."

And then she suddenly blew up.

"Shut the fuck up, Beck." She snapped, "All I've ever heard since going into treatment was 'you've made a ton of mistakes', 'oh you need to go get help' or 'oh you're irresponsible and forgetful' and 'your mistake was trusting your so called friends who got you in this mess in the first place'. Well, guess what? I'M SO FUCKING SORRY I'M A MISTAKE! I'm a mistake to my father, and to you… and here's the funny part. I _trusted_ you more than anyone else because you're my best friend, and you've known me so long, you know me better than _anybody _else. But really, I think _that _was my mistake. Trusting you!"

"Cat!" Robbie spoke loudly, "What the hell?"

She said nothing, just glared at Beck who stared right back at her just as intently.

"Guess you trusted the wrong guy right?" He spoke back, just as cold. "I at least took care of your son the last two years you were away! What other guy would've done that? Certaintly not the guys you were hanging out with back in your druggie days!"

"Stop holding that against me! I'm a recovering addict you don't fucking remind them of that, for your information."

"Recovering? Oh okay. Right. So if that's true then why did you try to kill yourself _after_ you got out of treatment?"

"Get off my back, Beck!" She snapped, now full on crying. "I can't take it with everyone always on my back, 'oh did you remember to take your medication?' or 'oh, don't forget to take it!' like shut up! I'm not a child, I can take care of myself!"

"Sure you can." Beck said, "But that's not why we keep asking you! We keep asking you because we care about you and we're worried!"

"Face it Beck." Cat seemed to have stopped crying momentarily, she shook her head back and forth, her tears still going, but her voice cold. "You stopped caring about me the _minute _you met Jade."

"That—that isn't true." Beck finally said, "if it was, then I wouldn't even be speaking to you right now."

"Fine, then what happened to those promises you made me? Ever since you found out she was pregnant, you've been with her, by her side, non stop! I'm your best friend, Beck, when are you going to hang out with me? Just like old times. You promised me you'd take me to the race tracks, that hasn't happened yet. You promised me you'd spend some time with me and Bentley _alone_, still hasn't happened. And it doesn't unless Jade's there too!"

"Okay, fine. You're right, I do spend a lot of time with her, but she's my fiancé, and she's pregnant with my child. Just like when you were pregnant I spent all my time with you, if you remember that. Or maybe you don't… you were out a lot yourself."

"That's because whenever I wanted to get out, you were busy… with your friends or whatever."

"Guys, maybe you should just talk about this—"

"I just want my best friend back." Was all Cat said, before grabbing Robbie's shirt and hiding her face in it. He wrapped his arm around her, and rubbed her back, as Beck just looked at her.

Trina and Andre sat there, a bit uncomfortable, as the door opened and Tori came back with her doctor.

"We're both completely different people now, Cat. And I'm sorry you don't see it that way. But you know, it's not always such a bad thing… people do change, but sometimes, they do for the better. I'm gonna go back and see how Jade's doing and check on Bentley… I'll see you later." And with that, he walked past Tori and the doctor, bumping into Tori's shoulder and causing her to stumble back a bit.

"Alright, what did I miss?" Tori asked, and Andre just shook his head.

"You missed a hell of a fight." And that was all he said, before Cat's doctor spoke.

"Cat, may I please speak with you, privately?"

Cat lifted her head up, and looked at her doctor. "Please let my boyfriend stay." She whispered, "I need him right now."

"Alright, then that's fine."

Tori, Trina and Andre politely nodded, and stepped out of the room. Once the door closed, her doctor looked at her.

"Now, can you please tell me what happened?" He asked, taking a seat, and she shook her head.

"I really don't want to talk about it."

"Well, we have to. As I understand it, you've been diagnosed with psychological disorders, correct?" Cat nodded. "Mind telling me what they are?"

"Don't you have them on file or something?" She asked, "I've come here twice already, since returning from treatment."

"Your regular doctor isn't here, so I'm filling in for her. I need to know what's going on from you so I can help you, best I can."

Cat just sighed, "Fine. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, bulimia and addiction to meth."

"And how is that addiction going?"

She narrowed her eyes, "I'm not addicted to it anymore, if that's what you're asking. I haven't gone near it in two and a half years almost."

"Very good. And the bulimia?"

Robbie felt her tense, "I…I still have my moments where I do want to throw up after I eat, but I… for the most part, don't."

"For the most part?"

"Yes."

"Have you done it all since returning from treatment?"

Cat was silent.

"Cat?" Robbie said, looking at her. "Have you?"

Cat bit her lip, the tears returning, "Only three times."

"What?"

Cat shrugged, "I did it once at school, and then twice at home… I don't mean to do it, I just…can't help it sometimes."

"It happens, but you have to think if it's really the right decision before you do it, because otherwise, there will be problems, and if serious enough, you could go right back to where you started."

Cat nodded, understanding.

"Okay, now have you heard any voices recently or seen someone that shouldn't be there or anything like that?"

"I heard the voices last night." Cat whispered, "And just a few minutes ago."

"Okay and what did they say?"

"That I'm an idiot. And I'm the one who hurt my son."

"I don't think that's the case." The doctor said, "And how about your moods?"

"After I uhm, left… his house yesterday," She said, gesturing to Robbie, "I started to panic."

"But your moods are pretty stable?"

"Yeah. I haven't felt much of a change in them in a while."

"Okay… well, when you took your medication yesterday, did you notice anything off or anything not normal?"

"Well, after I took them I started to feel lightheaded, like I was gonna pass out. And I also felt nauseous, and almost threw up a few times."

"But you said you were okay." Robbie said, "Why would you say that if you didn't?"

"I didn't want to worry you… and I had some water, the helped a lot." She looked down, playing with her fingers, "I don't like to seem weak."

"Alright, well. What I think is maybe you had an unknown side effect that caused you to panic the way you did." Her doctor said, "And as for the accident… you were out for a couple days, but I think you'll be okay. We'd like to keep you overnight for observation before we let you out. If you're okay tomorrow, we'll let you go. And I'll prescribe you with a higher dose of your medication okay?"

"But... I've already been diagnosed a higher dose. Why would I need it again?"

"You're hearing the voices," Her doctor said, "That's not good."

"I know but—"

"Cat." Robbie spoke firmly. "Just let him do what he has to do."

"No!" Cat snapped, "I'm not letting my medication run my life! If I fuck up even once, I get put on a higher dose, that's not fair!"

"But it's your life!" Robbie snapped back, "It's either you get what the doctor gives you, or you _die_."

Cat blinked, and turned away. She didn't have anything more to say, so she just nodded, and lay on her side.

"I'll be back in a little bit to check on her." The doctor told Robbie who just nodded. He left the room, and Robbie turned to his girlfriend, who wasn't facing him. He lay down next to her, and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Cat, what has gotten into you today? All you've done is argue and fight. Is there a reason why you're feeling so… frustrated?"

"I'm not frustrated, I'm… sick and tired of everyone not letting me do what I want, because I need this stupid medication."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't even spend time with my own son, unless I've taken it. It's not fair, and I have to live with this for the rest of my life." She turned to him suddenly, and he wrapped his arms around her as he felt her body shaking. "I…I hurt my son, because of them… and…I don't know, I just…"

"You don't want to take them anymore?" She didn't answer him. "Cat, you have no choice, you _have _to."

"I know that." She whispered, "But sometimes I wish I didn't."

And that statement alone, worried the hell out of Robbie.

* * *

><p>Later that day, Cat was still just laying in bed, basically emotionless. Her doctor had given her, her medication so she was acting pretty… well, calm. He'd been watching some movie on the tv with her (not that she was really paying any attention), when the door opened and Beck walked in.<p>

"Hey." He said, and Robbie nodding in acknowledgement while Cat just lay there, staring at the tv. "Hey." He repeated, but Cat shook her head.

"I'm not talking to you."

"What do you call what you just did?"

She didn't answer.

"Why are you being like this?"

"Why don't you just stop asking me questions?" Cat demanded, "You said what you needed to before—in fact we both did, so we don't we just… end it here."

"End what?"

"Our friendship."

Beck looked at her, a bit taken aback. "Excuse me?"

"It's obvious, you know, that you have a whole new life started with Jade, so great. I'm happy for you. I have a life with Robbie now; could care less about what you two do. And I'm well aware, that since we both had a child, we'll be in eachother's lives until we pretty much die, but as for this friendship? There's no point in continuing it if all we're gonna do is fight."

"Courtney, you're not being very reasonable." Beck said, "I know we both said some things, but—what you said, about us not being friends, that's fucking crazy. You're my best friend—you always will be."

Cat finally turned to look at him, her eyes emotionless, almost as if there was nothing there. It scared him a little, "No. Jade is."

"I can have more than one." He said simply. "I came here really to apologize to you, what I said was a little out of line…and I'm sorry."

"I guess I'm sorry too." She said, her eyes lit up. "But still, you hurt me."

"I know, and I'm sorry, okay?" She nodded and then held her arms out towards him, and from over her shoulder, he exchanged a look with Robbie. Where the hell had that mood change come from?

They broke apart the hug, and he looked at her, "I was thinking… when Bentley gets better, we should take him to the race track, you know, show him a bit about our past. Sounds good?"

"Yeah, but you still won't tell me what's wrong."

Beck gave her a small smile, "He'll fine…or he will be. Just a wrist is all."

"Then why couldn't you tell me that before?"

"Because… he's all cut up and stuff too. I didn't want you to see him like that and freak out. He was really bad before, but he's okay now."

"Beck…he almost died because of me."

"No, he almost died because of the damn drunk driver, not you. You had nothing to do with it, medication or not. Okay? I promise, everything's fine."

"Can I go see him now?"

"Sure." Beck said, as a nurse came in. "If they let you."

"Can I go see my son, please?" She begged and the nurse smiled at her.

"Sure, but take your medication first." She gave the pills to her, and Cat took them, putting them in her mouth, and then she took a sip of water and swallowed them. The nurse smiled at her, and then left the room.

"Ready to go see _our _son?" Beck asked her, and she smiled, she got up, and fixed her appearance for a moment.

"Uh, could you guys just go ahead? I have to do something first."

Beck shrugged, "Sure… come on, Robbie."

Robbie nodded; going over to her he kissed her forehead, "See you over there."

She nodded and gave him a soft smile. Then once the door closed and she was _sure_ she was alone, she turned and spit out the pills that had been under her tongue. She then put it in a Ziploc bag she'd found in her handbag, and hid it in a zipper where she knew no one would look.

It was what she did before, and it was what she was going to do from now on. Her medication was ruining her life, and she was going to make _sure_ she put a stop to it as soon as possible.

"Sorry, Beck," She whispered to herself, "Sorry, Robbie. And most of all, sorry, Bentley." And then, wiping a tear away, she walked out of her room and down the hall to _finally_ see her son.

_Okay, soo yeah this is kinda new plot that I had planned from the very beginning. And for those who keep saying this is a Beck/Cat story… it is. Sort of, I mean they have a past, and so there is gonna be some hint of romance in there, but it's mostly all from chapter 11 on its ALL about their friendship, the one they've had for years and rebuilding it. _

_And yes, they're ALL out of character in this, since Cat's not as ditzy here as she is on the show, and Jade's well… pregnant. So sorry if it's not what you're expecting, but this new chapter is WHY it's a Beck/Jade story. And you'll see why in future chapters. _

_Also, I didn't include any past memories in this, because it's very important to what's going to happen later. I think in the next chapter there should be a memory or two, I don't know. But it's all there for a reason._

_Oh, and I had another chapter planned out (like the party) but that's not for a while, and you'll see her father address why it's been moved in the next chapter (trust me, he's a real dick about it too)._

_The party is still on, and it'll be in the next chapter. It probably won't make sense now (and if it doesn't let me know) but it will soon. And I know Jade wasn't really in this chapter, but she'll be in next one... promise. Okay! Hope you enjoyed it! _


	14. Chapter 14

_This is kinda emotional... I dont know. I was feeling a bit emotional when I wrote this, so yeah._

_And to get you excited, Cat reveals a huge secret towards the end. _

_Enjoy._

* * *

><p>Cat sat in her bedroom, on her bed, her legs swinging back and forth as she stared at her feet, her head down. She was trying her hardest not to cry or burst into tears, but it was getting more and more difficult for her. Robbie was sitting at her desk in the chair; he leaned forward, his hands clasped together as he just looked at her, a look of worry and frustration on his face.<p>

"Cat…" He said quietly, "Come on, it's okay."

"It's not okay!" Cat looked up, her eyes rimmed with tears. "I almost…I almost killed my son, Robbie. Because of these damn voices and my damn crazy mind and—and I just don't understand how you, Beck or anyone else can just tell me it's okay! It's not!" She bit her lip, choking back on her words. "It's not. And it won't ever be."

Robbie just sighed, shaking his head; he let it hang for a moment before leaning back in the chair and rubbing his temples. Ever since Cat had gotten back from the hospital two days ago, she'd been extra moody and… just felt plain guilty, blaming her son's injuries on herself, when it wasn't really her fault to begin with.

He looked at the time on his phone, and turned around to see her pills and a bottle of water sitting there. He grabbed them and then held them out towards her, "You need to take your medication, Cat… it's time."

She didn't say anything, just took the bottle of pills and went into the bathroom. She looked behind her to see if Robbie had followed her—but luckily for her, he didn't. She closed the door behind her and then poured the pills she needed into her hand. Then she closed her hand, and went to the bottom drawer, pulling out the baggy, she poured them in there, and then put it back. Closing the door, she stood up, and fixed her hair, taking a sip of the water so Robbie would believe she actually took the pills. And then, without another word, she walked back into her bedroom; laying on her bed, she outstretched her arms, and motioned for him to join her.

He smiled at her, and then took his shoes off, going to lay beside her, she lay on her side, and faced the wall in front of her. He put both is arms around her and pulled her towards him, holding him tightly. She sighed, and lay her head on his arm, her hand going to his, and linking their fingers together.

She was tired. And all she wanted to do at that moment was sleep. Robbie seemed to be thinking the same thing, because he took his glasses off and then lay down beside her again, closing his eyes.

He rubbed her hand with his thumb, and instantly she felt relaxed again. "You okay?" He asked her, and she nodded.

"I'm… fine." She turned around and gave him a small smile. She kissed him softly and then closed her eyes. A few minutes later, she was about to fall asleep when her phone went off beside her, scaring her. She screamed, causing Robbie's eyes to open and look at her, until he realized it was just her phone that had caused her to get so freaked out.

He rolled his eyes, and then released her enough to allow her to reach across to the bedside table to retrieve her phone. The ringing stopped for a moment, before it started again, causing her to groan out loud once she read the caller ID.

She showed it to Robbie who just shrugged in response, telling her in his way to answer it.

She did as he suggested, pressing accept, she brought the phone to her ear, "Hi." Her voice was sort of dull and harsh, not what she intended, but she was tired, so she figured she had the right to be like that.

Her reasoning and not anyone else's.

"Hey." Beck said on the other end, "How—uh, how are you feeling?"

"Fine." She responded, "How's Bentley?"

"He's fine, just resting. You know you're more than welcome to come by and see him if you want to. Don't be afraid, I mean… he's not mad at you and neither is anyone else."

Then to both Robbie and Beck's surprise, she became _very_ defensive. "So you're saying it's all in my head? That I'm just… crazy?"

"No… Cat. I didn't say anything _close_ to that."

"Sure you didn't, Beck." She snapped and sat up suddenly. She ran her fingers through her hair, pulling at the ends harshly, which scared Robbie a bit, to the point where he pulled her hands away from her hair and just held them in his. What was going on with her? He wondered, and why the _hell _was she acting like this?

"I really didn't Cat, but if you want to go ahead and assume that then fine. Do it. I have to go right now, so I'll just talk to you later. Or call me when you're in a much better mood, okay?" He didn't say the last part harshly, but the way he said it, still infuriated Cat.

"Don't tell me what to do." Her voice was still cold, "I'm not a child."

"No shit, you aren't, Cat! What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you picking a fight with me right now? Did I do something to piss you off… or what? What the hell is going on?"

"Nothing! And I'd really, really appreciate if everyone would stop asking me that!"

"Then stop making it seem like there's something wrong! It's not goddamn rocket science!"

"Shut up, Beck. I have to go, so… bye." And with that, she hung up the phone, staring at it, her heart pounding and her breathing a bit labored.

Robbie than watched as her expression than changed to one of pure anger, to one of complete sadness and depression. It was so sudden; he hadn't had any time to think anything through. She promptly burst into tears and then started to rock back and forth her head in her hands.

"Why did I do that?" She whimpered, "Why did I just yell at Beck? Oh my god! He hates me now! Robbie… he hates me! My—my best friend hates me!"

"No, no he doesn't, Cat. I _promise _you, he doesn't, in fact, why don't you just call him and talk to him? Maybe that will make you feel better?"

She seemed to think it over a moment, before nodding her head. "Okay, I'll call him. And say I'm sorry."

"Good idea." He said, and lay back down, letting out a sigh. He hoped that whatever was going on with her wouldn't last that long. He figured that she was probably (and most likely) over tired, so it caused her to cry at every little thing—including small fights she had with Beck.

She pressed his name on her phone and immediately it dialed. Her lower lip was trembling, scared that he wouldn't answer. She had no reason to be after all, since he answered a moment later.

"Hello?" He didn't really sound pissed off, but for some reason, Cat still felt he was.

"I'm so sorry!" She said, "I didn't mean—I didn't meant to talk to you the way I did. I'm just really tired and—" Bingo. Robbie was right. "I'm just sorry okay? I love you and you're still my best friend, no matter what. Okay? I just don't want you to be mad at me anymore."

"Whoa, Cat, relax." Beck spoke, his voice calm and soothing, which immediately relaxed her. "I'm not mad at you or anything like that, I was just frustrated okay? I'm sorry if it came off as me treating you like a child, but you have to know, I'm worried about you… I know you're probably shaken up by what happened, and I don't want you to worry anymore, okay? That's all. No one hates you, no one's mad at you… alright? I promise."

"Okay." Cat whispered, "I believe you."

"Good. Now, get some sleep… I'm sure it'll make you feel much better."

"I wish—never mind." She said, biting her lip.

"Okay. Is there anything there that will help you sleep? Maybe a song or something?"

"Well, Robbie's here." She said, her fingernail going to her teeth, she started to chew on it. "He and I were trying to fall asleep before, but you called."

"Oh." He laughed lightly, "I'm sorry about that. Go back to sleep, we'll talk later, okay?"

"Okay!" Cat's voice suddenly became cheery. "Bye Beck! Talk to you soon!"

He laughed, "Bye Cat."

And with that, she hung up; she turned to Robbie, a smile on her face. She lay down on his chest suddenly, causing his arm to go around her. He held her close to him, and closed his eyes, letting out a sigh.

"He doesn't hate me, you were right." She yawned, closing her eyes. "I should really listen to you more often."

"Yeah…" Robbie looked a bit confused, "Yeah… I…I guess you should."

"Kaykay." She yawned again, and cuddled closer to him. He rubbed her back until he was sure she was asleep. It wasn't until literally two minutes later, when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out, reading the message on it, he quietly groaned, leaning his head back.

_Dude, there's something really wrong with her._

The message was from Jade—surprisingly. He quickly responded back.

_What makes you say that?_

Seconds later, he got a response back.

_The way she was talking to Beck. I mean she was arguing with him and picking a fight and then a second later, called back in tears. And then close to the end of their conversation, she was happy and cheerful. That's not normal, those mood swings don't just happen as quickly as that. _

He bit his lip and looked down at his small, fragile, red headed girlfriend. Jade had a very good point.

_She's been taking her medication, so I'm not really understanding what's going on._

The next text he received nearly made him wake her up, it freaked him out so much.

_I'm not so sure she is, Robbie. If she's acting like that… pretty much to how she was before she went to treatment, then I'd say she isn't really taking them. But I don't know. I'm not a professional, I just know about this from what you, Beck and everyone else have told me about what happened two years ago, including her. Let's just hope she's okay and that she is taking her meds okay?_

He nodded, even though he was texting her, and even though he didn't want to admit it, tears did come to his eyes as he thought about it. Sure, none of them were professionals, but the way she'd been two years ago, before he treatment was _almost _identical to how she was acting now. Maybe she wasn't as over tired or shaken up as he thought she was, maybe she just wasn't taking her medication… assuming Jade had a point and was right about that.

But then again, she could be wrong. All girls are moody, aren't they? What if it was her time of the month or maybe…. Maybe she was—she was—he shook his head, refusing to believe that one, wanting to laugh at out loud, but knowing he couldn't.

She couldn't be _pregnant_, could she?

He didn't know, but nonetheless, decided to bring it up with Jade .

_What if she is taking her meds and keeping up with them, but instead… is pregnant? I mean no offense, you'd know more than anyone… do you think that's maybe why she was acting the way she did?_

It took a while, but he got a text back from her.

_Honestly? No. But like I said, I'm not a professional. We could talk to her about it, but I doubt she'd talk to us._

_No, but she'd talk to Beck._

_True, but for now, let's just… hope it's not what we think. Maybe you're right and she is pregnant. Who knows though? _

Robbie hated her at the moment, because what she was saying made a lot of sense and was totally _on point_. Looking down at Cat, he realized that there was probably something she was in fact hiding from him, and no matter what… he was _going _to get to the bottom of it.

No matter _what_.

**STRATFORD JUNIOR HIGH – EIGHTH GRADE **

"I don't really think this is such a good idea…" Cat sighed, running her fingers nervously through her hair. "I mean, bringing Bentley to school? Is that really smart?"

"Well, what else are we supposed to do?" Beck asked her, "It's not like we really have a choice, here. And besides, it's your return back to school… I'm sure _everyone _would love to see him and you."

"Yeah, but junior high is such… a fire pit, you know? We'll get shit for this, I guarantee you. _Especially _from Patrice."

"Well, then ignore her. Fuck her, she doesn't know anything and honestly, she has no right to judge you—and neither does anybody else."

Cat shook her head, "They will though."

"Then… like I said, ignore them." She had been looking down at her son who was laying in his car seat, fast asleep, but as Beck spoke, she looked back up again. She took his hand, and he squeezed it. "I'm not leaving your side, I'll be here through it all, okay? I _promise_."

She smiled a small smile, "Okay," She whispered, "Let's… let's go inside before I lose my nerve."

He laughed, "Oh really?" She rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the gut. Picking up her bag, and then Bentley's carrier, she took a deep breath and stepped inside the school. She walked slowly down the hall, ignoring the eyes on her, staring and judging, until she got to her locker. Beck was right behind her, and leaned against the locker beside hers.

"See? Was that so hard?"

"No…not really." She looked down at Bentley. "He's just so… innocent. I don't want him to be judged for this for the rest of his life, like I was. A lot of people believe me being born is what killed my mother, but like Bentley, I was innocent, I had no part it that. She had her own problems and her own complications. You know? Being judged from such an early age… just sucks."

Her eyes filled with tears and immediately Beck wrapped his arms around her and held her against him, hugging her tightly. "I know…" He whispered, "I know you don't want that for our son. And that's one of the things I love most about you." He looked her in the eyes, pulling away, he cupped her face, and rubbed her cheeks, making the tears disappear as much as he could. "You don't care about yourself, you care about mostly about others… and that's something pretty special." The bell rang then and he looked up, before looking back at her. He kissed the top of her head and held her against him again. "Come on, let's get to class okay?"

"But—" She sighed, knowing she wasn't going to get out of this one. "Okay, okay. We'll—we'll go." She looked down at Bentley and then closed her locker, picking him up, she hadn't even walked two feet before she was approached with clacking, tacky (in her and Beck's opinion) heels. She looked up to see a sneer on Patrice's face.

"Wow, Valentine, I'm surprised you had the balls to show up to school today… after what? Like a month straight of missing school? And look! You even brought your little bastard baby. That was _so not _smart on your behalf, I hope you realize."

Cat closed her eyes for a moment. She knew there was going to be judgment, she knew there was going to something said from Patrice and she knew she'd probably not like _anything_ that went on that day, but like Beck had said, ignore 'em. No one should judge her for it, if they didn't really know the whole story to begin with anyway.

She opened her eyes and looked behind her to see Beck was still there. So, she took a deep breath, and tightened her hold on Bentley's carrier.

"Patrice?" She said, and the girl looked at her, a bitchy expression on her face. Cat just shook her head, and glared at her, "You don't know what I've been through, or what's going on, and I mean the _real _story not some fake story you made up. So please just leave me alone, and…" She walked closer to her, leaning in, only an inch away from her as she stared right in her eyes, "_fuck off_."

Patrice and her two lackeys gasped, everyone stopped talking, and just looked at her, shocked. Even Beck was a bit surprised, but he held that famous smirk that told everyone that he _knew _she had it in her.

Cat just shook her head, and with her free hand took Beck's, walking off with him towards class, her head held high.

"See?" Beck said, stopping her just outside the door, he put his hands on her arms and pulled her close to him. "You had it in you," He whispered before kissing her softly. "You always did."

She shook her head, and smiled up at him, "But without you I don't. You're my strength and always will be."

She took his hand and squeezed it, "No matter what."

**PRESENT DAY **

No one knew this, but for a while, Beck had really believed Cat was the strongest person he knew, and in many, many ways, she still was.

He hadn't wanted to believe she was mentally sick when they had first started to date, but deep down inside, he always knew it was true. From the moment he was able to recognize something was off, he just _knew_. And being in denial (enough for the both of them) didn't help anything at all.

He rolled over and looked at Jade was laying beside him, her hand on her stomach, her eyes closed. He was with her now, a beautiful girl who he'd fallen very, _very_ deeply in love with. A beautiful girl who was now carrying his _second_ child. He couldn't believe it, the fact that he was going to be a dad again was a bit overwhelming since he could barely even handle Bentley on his own. But he knew he and Jade could do it. After all, he had experience and Jade was just… very strong-willed. She never gave up on anything and that meant the world to him.

And also, in many ways it reminded him of Cat, who surprisingly had been like that for most of her life.

"Jade?" He whispered, shaking her awake gently. She let out a groan and opened her eyes, looking at him.

"Beck?" She fully opened her eyes, more awake now that she could see the look on Beck's face. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He said, looking down he noticed her ring and played with her fingers, "I was just thinking…"

"Oh yeah? About what?"

"About the first time Cat and I took Bentley to school with us…" He said, feeling a bit lame that he'd told her. "I mean… I know it sounds lame, but—"

"No, not at all." Jade said, sitting up more, she yawned, stretching her arms and rubbing her eyes. "I wanna hear this story."

"I know, but you don't normally like hearing stories about me with other girls." He reminded her.

"Well, it's Cat," She said simply. "She's completely different… you know, being my stepsister, your best friend since birth and the mother of your child, I have to respect that. Now, if it was Vega… it'd be a completely _different _story, but anyway, continue."

He laughed a bit, sitting up with her, he put his arm around her, and held her against him, playing with the end of her dark and colorful hair. "Well, she was nervous you know, since she didn't want to be judged—"

"Wait." Jade said, looking up at him, "It's junior high right? Of _course_ you're going to be judged, whether or not you really wanted to be."

"I don't exactly mean for _her_." He said, "I meant for Bentley."

"Okay, now I'm confused."

"She didn't want Bentley to go through the same thing she'd gone through her whole life. You know, being born to a young mother and then everything that happened to the mother, instantly became your fault. She was blamed—and probably still is—for the death of her mother when she really had nothing to do with it, obviously. By just being born, she already had a reputation, and that was not something she wanted for Bentley."

"Wow," Jade said, looking away from him a moment and thinking it over, "That's pretty… courageous of her."

"Yeah…" He said, "She was pretty courageous in a lot of ways. But in most others, she wasn't."

"That I know." Jade said, "But continue, I wanna hear more about what happened."

"Well, we talked, and I told her to just ignore it, and that I would be there for her, you know? And I guess she used that for some of her strength, because she walked right into that school and told off the mean girl—or most popular girl, however you want to look at her. The girl, Patrice told her she had made a mistake and then called Bentley her bastard baby."

Jade gasped, "I would've told her off too! Oh my god! That's horrible!"

"And then Cat said she didn't know the real story, all she knew was the fake story that she had probably made up and told everyone else… and then, and I have to say this is the best part, she told her to fuck off."

"Damn, Cat! She kicked ass! She's such… a hero…" Jade looked up at him, "And I know she is to you and Bentley, it's not just you both."

"Well, part of it is me," He teased causing Jade to roll her eyes. "After she said something I'll never forget."

"And what's that?"

"Well, I told her she had it in her and she always had, and then she told me I was her strength and that I always would be, not matter what." He rested his chin on the top of Jade's head as she thought about what he said for a moment before speaking.

"She's right, Beck." To his surprise, her voice was cracking with emotion. "You are her strength. You _and_ Bentley. And I'm pretty positive Robbie is as well, now. I'm sure all she thought about while she was away was seeing you both, and that just helped her a lot. Maybe not all of it, but I'd say the majority of it. You're her best friend and Bentley's her son. She loves you both, and without you both, she'd… probably crumble. Strength is something you choose and she chose it to move forward. Just like you did." She leaned back a bit to look at him, her eyes filled with tears. "You really don't know how amazing you are sometimes. And trust me, you're not just a hero in Cat or Bentley's eyes like she is to you both, but… also to me. You do so much for everyone else, and… I don't know, somehow, no matter what, you stay strong throughout it all."

"I have my moments though, Jade." He said, remembering back to a time where he'd completely broke down. "I mean… not many people know this, but I did have a breakdown after she left."

"Not everyone is Superman, Beck. Bentley may think you and Cat are, but everyone has there low points." She smiled gently, touching his cheek. "Tell me about it, maybe… maybe it'll help you realize that it was okay. And that you don't have to be embarrassed about it."

He took a deep breath, tears coming to _his _eyes as he thought about it. "Well, uhm, it was maybe a week after she left, and I was alone in my room. We had gone back to Canada for a bit, which my mom thought was best to help me get my mind off what had happened, since being back home always did help a bit. Bentley was asleep and my mom was out. I didn't really want to talk to anyone, so I kinda kept to myself during that time. I just… you know, missed her so much, and it hurt… a lot. That I had to let her go. But at the end of the day, I knew it what was best for her. Otherwise the outcome could've been much, much worse."

He took a deep breath and the continued. "I went outside, bringing Bentley's baby monitor with me of course and just stood in the backyard for a moment. I went into shed there and just sat in there for a moment. Looking around, I realized it was where Cat and I had spent _a lot _of time together. She and I did a lot in there, like draw and color random things as kids, build cities and played with trains, anything you can think of, we did it in there… including our first kiss, which… was pretty funny if you ask me, but that's a story for another time." He paused for a moment, and then continued, collecting himself. "We uhm, well, one Christmas break, she decided that she wanted to decorate and it make look pretty, so we spent all day and night making it look… well, much better. We painted and we put some pictures up and all that fun stuff. And when we were done, we were exhausted. I remember she lay down on me and looked at everything, smiling up at me and really, really happy that she had something she could share with someone and have it be a good memory and not a bad one. Anyway, that day, I went out there, and I saw the pictures of us, together and I just snapped, I destroyed everything, I took down all the pictures, ripped up our drawings, our lyrics… _everything_. And by time I had finished, I had looked at what I had done and just… _broke down_. I couldn't believe I had done what I did and sat on the ground. I rocked back and forth and cried like a baby for about half an hour." He took a deep breath, feeling the tears come to his eyes, he willed them to go away, but Jade wasn't having that.

"It's okay to cry, Beck." She whispered, "It's okay."

Something in what she said, her voice or whatever, made him go over the edge. He felt the tears slip down his cheeks, and then her thumb wiping it away. She waited very patiently for him to continue, kissing his cheek over and over, in an attempt to calm him down—which worked.

He took a few deep breaths, and then continued, "I didn't leave the shed until my friends, Noah and Alexa came out looking for me. They saw me on the floor, my hair in different directions, the mess all around me, my eyes bloodshot, pink and puffy and _knew _something had gone down. Alexa had immediately wrapped her arms around me and held me while Noah just started to clean, looking around in disbelief. I then heard Bentley on the baby monitor and had gotten up, somewhat like a zombie—Noah and Alexa later told me—and went back into the house where I saw my mom holding him, rocking him to sleep, a look of relief on her face. When I told her what happened, she gave me this look of total sympathy and held me. She didn't let go, maybe only once so we could put Bentley to bed, but after that she just… I don't know, let me cry all night long." The memory was so vivid in his mind; it almost felt like it was real and happening again. He looked down, feeling the tears come down harder, he leaned into her and she held him.

He finally calmed down and looked at her, "That didn't make me look weak did it?"

"No." She gave him a small smile, "It made you look human. It's okay to cry."

"I know." He sighed, "It's just… I've never really opened myself up like that to anyone other than Cat or my mother." He looked at her, "I'm glad I did to you though."

"I am too." She whispered, kissing him gently. "And thank you, for telling me those stories. You didn't have to, but I'm so happy you did."

"Anything for you, Jade." He kissed her again, bringing her closer, he kissed her deeper, causing her to quietly moan. They kissed for a few more minutes, before they had to break it off or die from lack of oxygen. "I love you, Jade. And I can't wait to start my life with you."

She smiled, this time tears coming to her own eyes, "I love you too, so, so much." With that, she pressed her lips against his again. "More than you'll ever know." She kissed him again, happy when he kissed her back. Grinning she leaned back on the bed, and he climbed on top of her, kissing her harder and deeper, he grabbed her hand, squeezing it as he did.

There was no better feeling than what he felt right at that moment, with Jade. And he _knew _it would _never _go away.

* * *

><p>Robbie walked outside, where Cat sat in a rocking chair; her hair down for a change, her bangs clipped back, her hair straightened. He handed her the hot cocoa he made and she took it from him, smiling as he sat down next to her and she wrapped the blanket around them both. She leaned her head on his shoulder, and stared out in front of her, just enjoying the moment for what it was.<p>

"Robbie?" She asked and he looked at her. "Do you think I'm crazy? And I mean that honestly."

"Of course not." He whispered, kissing her. "I would never think that. You're… your own person, and that's all you're ever going to be, no matter what anyone says, you're just… _you_."

That seemed to make her happy enough; she smiled and kissed him again. She twisted her body so she could kiss him deeper, bringing her hand to his face, she pulled him closer, and did just that as he put his hand on her waist, holding her.

"Ahem." They had been so into making out and each other, they barely heard the voice, until they broke apart and looked up to see Cat's stepmother standing there, an annoyed and disapproving look on her face. "Thank you," She spoke curtly, "Jadelyn's here to see you, Courtney." Was all she said, before she walked off. Cat looked at Robbie confused, until Jade walked outside a moment later.

"Hey." She said, taking a seat across from them. She sat down slowly and carefully, and then looked at the couple in front of her. "How are you two?"

"Fine…Jade, what are you doing here, if you don't mind my asking? I mean… I know it's not easy for you to be here." Cat said, tilting her head.

"I need to talk to you, Cat, about something." Jade said, her eyes flicking over to Robbie. "And I suppose it's fine with Robbie here."

"It's fine with me." Cat shrugged, leaning back against him. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Well, hopefully you'll feel comfortable enough," Jade sighed, "I want to talk about your past a bit… with everything you've been through and with Beck."

"Okay…" Cat said, looking down at her cocoa. "Go for it, ask what you want to ask."

"Well, uhm…first I want to know, what made you... well, self-medicate?" Jade spoke somewhat hesitantly, since she knew it was a very sore topic for her stepsister. Cat looked down again and then back at her.

"I was hanging out with the wrong crowd of people, Beck didn't really know about it, neither did any of our friends. I sort of just did it on my own and lived a double life. The voices in my head and my bipolar disorder played a huge part in that. I just didn't care. My family was just… messed up, my dad was being difficult and… I don't know everything was just so fucked up and I didn't know how else to do with it… other than sex, alcohol and drugs."

"Okay, now… I want to know, did you ever had sex with anyone else, but Beck? And I mean back then, since it's obvious you've had sex with Robbie now as well."

"Honestly?"

Jade nodded and Cat took a deep breath. She looked at Robbie and then back at Jade again. "I don't remember."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I was so drugged, medicated, and drunk most of the time—and I don't mean all at the same time or else I'd be dead—that I can't remember. I've tried to numerous times, but… each time I could never figure it out." Cat looked down and played with her fingers nervously. "I never told Beck that, but yeah."

"So, you're saying Bentley may not even be his child?"

"No, he's most definitely his child." Cat said, "I remember the day he was conceived clearly. And that—that was with Beck. But other times, I couldn't. I've been told by some others who weren't as fucked up as I was that nothing happened, but I can't be too sure."

"So… you're saying… you could've been raped?"

Cat thought about it for a moment, before tears came to her eyes and she nodded, shrugging her shoulder, "Yeah."

It was silent in between them for a moment, before Cat finally spoke again.

"But I asked for it. I was then one doing the drugs and drinking the alcohol, it wasn't anyone's fault but my own."

"No." Robbie said, "No…no one asks to get raped."

"Exactly." Jade said, "No one does. There's no excuse, no reason, nothing." She took in what she said, and then looked up at her. "I think you should tell Beck."

Cat's eyes widened, "I—I can't!" She cried, "He'd hate me _forever_!"

"No, no he wouldn't." Jade said, "If you explain to him what happened, I'm sure he'd understand. Or maybe you do, you do know him better than I do. What do you think he'd do, flip out or support you?"

"I…" Cat looked at them both trailing off. "I don't know."

"Cat." Robbie forced her to look at him, "You were maybe possibly raped, I think you should not only tell Beck, but the police as well."

"What difference would that make?" Cat snapped, "It happened in Stratford, not here! It wouldn't matter anyway. I'm far away from them."

"Still." Jade said, "he has a point."

"No, just… forget I told you anything okay? Can we please change the subject?" Cat's hands started to shake and she ran them through her hair, "Please… to _anything_ else? _Please?_" She was almost whimpering, it seemed to scare her that much.

"Yeah…" Jade looked at her strangely, wondering what was going on with her. "Uhm, so Beck told me a story about when you both took Bentley to school for the first time," She said, noticing how much calmer Cat became after just a moment. Robbie started to rub her arm comfortingly, and it seemed to relax her enough that she could somewhat focus.

"Yeah… that was an experience." Cat rolled her eyes, "Bitchy Patrice got what was coming to her… _finally_."

"I know! Cat, it was so badass!" Jade cheered, causing Cat to laugh. "It was a proud moment, to know I was your stepsister. Not only for that, but because of how strong-willed you were and still _are_."

"I wouldn't say that." Cat said, "I can be weak sometimes."

"We all can be." Robbie spoke up, "It's not just you."

"I don't know, I feel like I'm the only who's the weak one… like I'm the weakest or something."

"Nope, you're not the only one." Robbie assured her. "You're in fact one of the strongest people I know."

"Me too." Jade smiled, "I wish I could be as strong as you are."

Cat smiled, "Really?"

Jade nodded, "Really? And did you know, you and Beck are both a superhero in Bentley's eyes? He told me so."

"He did?" The look on Cat's face made Jade want to cry tears of happiness, she was so happy to hear it, and she could tell.

"Yeah… he did." Jade said, "You're a superhero to _everyone _Cat, with what you've been through… I've never met anyone so strong before."

An emotion passed through Cat's eyes, but she just smiled it away and nodded. And since both Robbie and Jade not only went to a performing arts school, and were performers themselves, they knew it wasn't real.

"You're strong to me too." Robbie whispered, kissing the side of her head. She relaxed and nodded.

"Thank you guys." She whispered, "Thank you so much, it means a lot to me."

"Of course." Jade smiled and a comfortable silence fell in between them, before they heard the door slam open and the moment was broken.

"COURTNEY!" Her father stormed outside, his face red with anger. "What's this I hear about you getting in a car accident?"

Cat shrugged, "I'm sure it's not something you care about."

"Well, yes I do. This party is now _ruined_ because of you! We had to reschedule the party!"

"Why?" Cat asked, "I'm here now aren't I?"

"Well, the party was supposed to take place a few days ago, when you'd gone missing! Then I hear you were in the hospital? Do you know how that makes me look?"

Jade's mouth dropped open, and Robbie looked surprised. Cat however, just shrugged, "Nope." She seemed nearly emotionless, almost the point where she was just a zombie or robot with no feelings. "But you know, I don't care."

"Don't you ever speak like that to me again!" Her father yelled, "I won't tolerate it!"

"Oh!" Cat suddenly jumped up, the blanket fell at her feet, but she ignored it. "You care about a dumb, stupid party more than your daughter's health! You don't give a shit about that, so why should I give a shit about your reputation when you destroyed mine the _moment_ I was born!"

_Go Cat_. Jade silent cheered.

"You know you did, dad. Don't deny it, not in front of my best friend or my boyfriend."

Her father's eyes flicked over to them, and then he looked annoyed. "What is Jadelyn doing here? I've heard nothing but bad things about her."

"Who the fuck cares!" Cat shouted, "She's your _stepdaughter_! Stop believing what others tell you! When are you going to learn that?"

"I have, my dear." Her father sneered, looking at Robbie he looked back at his daughter and then at Robbie again. "And who is this? Your boyfriend? How could he be with such a drama queen like you?"

Cat bit her lip, ready to completely blow her top, but knowing she couldn't. Robbie and Jade were surprised. Usually Cat would have blown up by now, but for some reason, she wasn't. it was so strange. "I thought you were still dating your friend from Stratford."

"No, dad." Cat spoke coldly. "He and I broke up when I went back home for treatment."

"Oh well, it's just as well. You were too much of an attention seeker, he probably didn't want to put up with it anymore. No wonder he broke up with you."

"Actually, _I _broke up with _him_." Cat's voice was now icy, borderline mean. "Why I did, isn't any of your concern. But now it doesn't matter since I'm with Robbie and he's with Jade."

"It wont be long before your boyfriend finds someone better, your last one already did." Her father sneered just as the front doorbell rang. They briefly heard it open and close and then her stepmother speaking to someone, before he turned and started to go back in the house. "Be here at 8:00pm _next _Friday. Do it or I'll—"

Cat tried really hard, she did but she couldn't take it anymore. "You'll what? Tell everyone I killed my mother again? Oh right, because that story only gets so old after a while. Face it, _father_. You're nothing but a liar, and that's all you'll _ever_ be. You're never going to have a _real_ relationship with anyone, because you can't even have one with your own daughter, your _only_ child. An only child who can't even _stand you_ or your wife. How pathetic is that?"

Her father looked pissed off, so pissed off, that both Jade and Robbie were afraid he was going to do something _very _horrible to her.

"Archibald?" Jade's mother appeared, one of Cat's father's colleagues behind her. He ignored her though, and focused his attention on his daughter.

And what happened next, wasn't something anyone was expecting (except for Cat since she'd been through it a few times). Her father raised his hand and smacked her cheek, the smack so loud, it was almost like it was against a microphone. Cat's head flew to the side and she grabbed her cheek with one hand, crying out in pain.

She barely heard Jade's gasp and Robbie's, "shit!"

"Don't you _ever_ talk to me like that you _bitch_." He spat and with that, turned to walk inside, stopping short when he saw his colleague standing there, a disapproving look on his face.

Her cheek still throbbing in pain, Cat's mood suddenly switched again. "I HATE YOU!" She yelled, "I HATE YOU SO FUCKING MUCH!" She was almost screaming she was so worked up. "MOM WOULD'VE NEVER LET YOU DO THAT TO ME!" Robbie was holding her back, as she was trying to get to him, she then stopped struggling and looked down tears in her eyes, she cried. "Mom… would've…never let you do that… to me." She cried, speaking softer. She then broke down, Jade's arms around her, as she did.

Her father and stepmother on the other hand, watched her break down, shaking their heads, they turned to her father's colleague only to find he was walking away slowly.

"I think you've got other things to handle, thank you for this, but I must go." And with that, he was gone.

"Thanks a lot Courtney! This is all your fault! I missed a good opportunity because of _you_!"

She looked up, in disbelief, "_everything _is always my fault isn't? Mom's death, your dumb party being postponed, my drug problem, my bipolar disorder, my mental problems… but did it _ever _occur to you, that maybe, just maybe it's all _your fucking fault_, you inconsiderable JERK!" She yelled the last part, scaring her stepmother enough that she backed away, but it didn't made Cat back down any less.

"You made everyone hate me, and for what? For being born? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard of in my life!" Cat yelled, "And as for you—" She turned to Jade's stepmother, "Grow up."

And then with that, she stormed past them and into the house. Robbie and Jade just stood there, unsure of what to do… of what they'd just witnessed.

"I assume you're both going to leave?" Cat's father asked, as Robbie just shook his head.

"Unbelievable." He said, "No disrespect, Mr. Valentine, but what you said to Cat… was way, out of line. She cant be blamed for everything, she has _no _reason to be."

"I don't see how any of this is your business." Her father spoke harshly.

"That girl that you made run in there, oh dear stepfather of mine, is _our _business." Jade snapped. "Get your shit together or don't. But you're going to lose a lot of business opportunities because of your selfishness and stupidity, not because of her."

"JADELYN!" Her mother screamed, causing Jade to just glare at her.

"You don't have a place to yell at me, _mother_. You were never one to me to begin with." Jade snapped. "So stop playing this act, it's not working."

"Just wait until I speak to your father—"

"Go ahead." Jade said, "It'll be the first time you talked to him in years, I'm sure he'll be _so_ happy to hear from you. Or not. I really don't fucking care, at this point anymore."

She then walked into the house, shaking her head as Robbie just followed her. They got to the kitchen, and Jade stopped to look at him.

"I'm going upstairs, to make sure she's okay. How are you?" Robbie asked, putting his hand on her arm.

"I'm fine. I'm just worried about her."

"Okay… well, do you need a ride home or anything?" Jade shook her head.

"I'm fine, I drove myself. Just please…" Her eyes flicked up to the ceiling and then back at Robbie. "Please make sure Cat's okay. With everything she said, not only to us, but to her father, I just want her to be alright. If not, call me and Beck and I will be here right away, okay?" Robbie nodded and she hugged him, surprised he hugged her back.

"I'll do my best." He promised and she nodded.

"Thank you."

And with that they went their separate ways.

* * *

><p><em>I just hate her dad, don't you? And Beck? He finally broke down his walls for Jade.. as for Cat? Hmm... that was a big revelation, was it not? Ahh! Drama. And it's only just the beginning of something pretty big that's going to happen.<em>

_Oh and by the hater comment I made last chapter, I meant in my actual life. I don't mind if someone doesnt like this story for whatever reason. It's your opinion and your decision and I respect that._

_Well, anyway, hope you enjoyed it! As strange as it was._


	15. Chapter 15

**Yup. Finally updated this. It's been what, two months? Whoa, therrre. **

* * *

><p>Beck let out a sigh as he saw Cat in front of him, sitting at a picnic table, her head down, writing notes in what looked to be a journal, a guitar on her lap, as she tried to come up with the melody and the words she wanted. Jade and Robbie had shared with him what had happened in between her and her father the day before, and all he'd wanted to do was check on her and make sure she was okay. He had gone to her house, only to be turned away, and then decided that she was probably where she'd always go when she was upset-the park, to write songs.<p>

He couldn't help but think of when she was fourteen and she was in the same position she was now, writing songs, and humming a melody. He had smiled at her and told he loved it, whatever it was she'd been writing at the time. She had rolled her eyes and told him he was only saying that to calm her hormones, but had smiled nonetheless and kissed him.

"Whoa-oh, oh, whoa-oh, oh..." Her beautiful voice floated to him as he walked closer. She was so into what she was doing, she hadn't realized he was sitting across from her until she opened her eyes and let out a gasp. "What are you doing here?" She blurted without really meaning to sound as harsh as she did.

Up close, he noticed there was something off about her. Her eyes were very puffy and pink, her cheeks pinker then normal and she kept looking down, almost as if she was ashamed of something. But what? He wondered.

She had nothing to be ashamed of, right?

"I came to see how you were doing. Jade and Robbie told me about what happened the other day with your father." He looked at her concerned, like he had always done their whole lives. He looked at her journal for a moment, only to see her cover it, her eyes back on him. Her gaze intense. He cleared his throat, "So uhm... how are you doing?"

"I'm fine, Beck." She _almost_ seemed to snap at him.

He decided to be honest, "you don't seem fine."

She scoffed, "Right, like you even care."

What the hell was going on with her? "I do care, Cat. I've always cared."

She blinked for a moment, looking a bit shocked and... scared, before glaring at him, narrowing her eyes. "Sure, you have."

"How can you think I never have?"

"I never said that!" Cat snapped at him, as her phone went off. She looked at it and picked it up. "Robbie's on his way here."

"Great, real happy for you. But we're not talking about him right now." Beck responded. "We're talking about you and me. What was with what you just said? Why do you think I don't care, anymore? Or that I never have."

She looked dazed for a moment, before quickly shaking her head and speaking. "You sent me away." She said in a small voice, before standing up and putting her things back in her bag. But before she was able to put her notebook in her bag, she dropped it and he saw a peace of paper fall out with what looked like lyrics on them.

_What do I stand for? What do I stand for? Most nights I don't know anymore._

She seemed to realize he was reading what she'd written and stopped where she was standing, frozen as he looked up at her, standing up.

He took a good look at her, trying his hardest to find the girl she once was. He remembered when they were about thirteen, she was doing what she'd been doing then, at the park, writing a song in her notebook. He had come and surprised her and she squealed happily, wrapping her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist, and he held her, spinning her around as she giggled, her hair flying behind her.

Sure, back then, she was on medication for her problems, but she at least had _some personality_. Now it was like she was a damn emotionless robot.

This wasn't his best friend. Where the fuck was she?

Had what her father said to her really affected her that badly?

Then he suddenly made a decision that would probably piss off a lot of people, but at that moment he didn't care.

She was slipping away from him and he was going to do everything he could to stop it.

"Tell Robbie not to come," He said, "Tell him you're coming with me."

Her eyes widened, "And where do you think I'd go with you?" She almost sounded like a bitch when she said it, but he just brushed it off, deciding it was for the best.

"Do it, or I will myself. And trust me, I don't think you'll like that very much." He stared her down and she did the same, until she rolled her eyes and quickly called her boyfriend.

He was going do _everything_ he could to get his best friend back. Because whoever this person was, wasn't someone he knew real well, at all.

**STRATFORD HIGH SCHOOL - SEVENTH GRADE **

Beck sighed, where the hell was his girlfriend? He tried calling her multiple times, only for the call to go straight to voicemail. Why the hell was she just ignoring him like that?

Letting out another frustrated grunt, he threw his phone and himself on his bed, and laid face down on his pillow, letting out more frustrated yells. His phone rang a moment later, and he looked at the caller ID, only to see it was... his _father_?

He debated on answering it or not, when he just decided to see what he wanted. "Hello?" He snapped, not really intending to be as harsh as he was.

"Beck." He heard his father's gruff voice and rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, that's me. What do you want?"

"That's no way to talk to your father, now is it?"

"I'm really not in the mood to be fucked with, so come on. Say it." He snapped again, growing more and more irritated. His father was a deadbeat, to say the least. He didn't really have much contact with his mother, let alone his own son. Beck briefly wondered if he even knew he had a girlfriend. And if he did, how serious they were, even though they'd only been dating for a few months. He almost laughed at that; his father didn't give a shit, so how would he have known anyway?

"So testy today, aren't you?" Beck fought the strong urge to roll his eyes. "Well, anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I was coming to town for a few days, wanted to see if you wanted to meet up or something for a while."

Meet up? With his father? Pfft, yeah right. The last time he did that, his father had ditched him and left him all alone in the rain at a hockey game for some bimbo and alcohol. Like he'd ever trust his father not to do it again.

"Doubtful, but thanks for the offer. I'd really rather not get ditched again." Beck told him, the memories rushing at him. "Thanks for that by the way, never really got a chance to tell you that."

"Beck, come on! I won't leave you this time! Look.. I promise, kid. Alright?"

Empty promises, empty promises.

Beck only shook his head, "Thanks, but no thanks." He heard the knock on the window, the "secret" knock, and his head snapped in that direction. "Look, I got to go, I'll... call you tomorrow or something." And with that-not realizing what he said-he hung up, going over to the window, he opened it, only to see a girl with short shorts, exposing her silky tan legs, and his old soccer hoodie. Her flipflops made a loud noise as she fell against him and into his room, he ran his fingers through his hair, and looked at her. "_Courtney_? Where the hell have you been?"

"I got in a fight with my dad okay?" She spoke quickly, walking into his room, she sat on his bed, kicking her flip flops off. "I didnt have my phone on me, sorry."

"That's okay, but... uh, why are you wearing the hood over your hair?" He asked her, watching as she bit her lip and lifted her head a bit. He could see something, but was unsure of what it was, exactly. It looked like her head was red... but he couldn't really tell with the dim light in his room.

"Do you want to have sex?" She blurted and he looked at her shocked. What the hell kind of question was that?

"Repeat?"

"I said..." She walked over to him, her hand sliding up and down his shirt as she looked up at him, her eyes narrowing, "Do you want to have sex? Like...right now?" She asked, her mouth just an inch from his. She kissed him softly, before deepening it, her hands going to his waist, and pulling him closer. He was so in shock, he didn't respond back.

She seemed to get the message and pulled away, looking down, she backed away from him, her hands going into the pocket of his hoodie.

He then seemed to blink and shake his head, coming back to his senses. What the hell just happened?

"Whoa, wait. What? What did..." He stopped, and tried to speak again, this time, trying to make a bit more sense than he was before. "What has gotten into you?"

"Nothing, Beck!" She yelled at him, "Why does me wanting to have sex with you make there something wrong with me?"

"Because you're... well, you!" He shouted back at her, now pissed off. He wasn't sure what it was, her secretiveness... or his father's phone call. But what ever it was, it sure as hell fired him up.

"What's that supposed to mean!" She shouted, pushing against him, she walked back to the window, about to climb out of it, when she suddenly felt his arms wrap around her and pull him to her, holding her close. He rested his chin on top of her head, and held her as she fought against him.

He didnt know what was wrong with her, but at the same time, as pissed off as he was, all he wanted to do was comfort her.

"What's wrong?" He whispered, running his fingers through her hair, which immediately calmed her.

"I...I don't know." She admitted. "I don't know what set me off," her eyes were teary as she looked up at him, "I'm sorry." She whispered.

He only nodded, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. "I know you are." He whispered back.

**PRESENT DAY**

"Beck... Beck...BECKKKK!"

His head snapped so fast in her direction, he was surprised he didn't hit the car in front of him. Although, it did come pretty close. She let out a squeal, her eyes widening.

"Oh my god! Watch what you're doing!"

"Says you." He scoffed.

She glared at him, "I _don't_ need another accident okay? The last thing I want to do is scar my son for life, especially if both his parents end up in the hospital." She flipped her hair over her shoulder and looked at him. "Where are you taking me anyways?"

"Just be quiet, and listen to music or sing... or whatever, I really don't care. You keep asking me the same question, and you're _still _not getting that answer."

She pouted. Cat _actually_ pouted. Like a five year old. He hadn't seen her do that since they were kids. What a sight that was.

She soon started to hum a melody... seeming to get out of her funk. He noticed though that it wasn't one he knew. In fact, he couldn't recognize it at all.

She tapped her fingers against her knee, "_The other night, you wouldn't believe a dream I just had about you and me, I called you up, but we'd both agree, it's for the best you didn't listen, it's for the best we get our distance_..." She sang the song so beautifully and with so much emotion, he was curious as to where it'd come from. She started to tap another beat on the door beside her, getting into it, and bobbing her head along with it. She started again-from the beginning he guessed-and kept it going.

Then, as fast as it had started, it was over.

Just like that.

* * *

><p>"Where are they?" Robbie was pacing back and forth, his hands running through his hair as Jade and Bentley sat in front of him, Jade more or less occupied by the boy in front of her, while Robbie was just straight up freaking out, for what she guessed was for no reason. "It's not like them to both have their phone's off."<p>

"Do you not trust them?" Jade asked, looking up at him, her eyes curious, as Bentley tried to get away from her. She grabbed his wrist just in time though, and he looked at her. "Stay here okay?" She asked and he nodded.

"Well, do you?" He shot back. "I mean, you're more the jealous type, how do you feel about all this?"

"Well, for one. Cat's my stepsister, and one of my best friends, I trust her not to do anything with him. And two, I guess I've just grown up a bit." She shrugged, as Robbie looked pointedly at Bentley.

"Uh-huh. And what exactly do you call Bentley?" He asked her, "Isn't he proof that something's going on between them?"

"Whoa, what?" Jade looked at him surprised. "Where did that just come from? Bentley was born way before I met Beck, and way before you even developed feelings for Cat, I'm assuming. He's not a part of this." She stared at him hard, "What is going on with you? Do _you_ not trust Cat or something?"

"It's not Cat I don't trust."

"It's Beck?"

"Nope."

"Then why are you wazzing out for no reason?" Robbie would've laughed at the word she used-as it wasnt very like her to use it-if he wasn't so emotional.

"I'm not. It's just... Jade, you have to like, think for a sec." He said, "Beck and Cat... they were _once_ in love with each other, she leaves for two years, and suddenly she's back. You're engaged to him, and she's dating me. Don't you at least feel like they have some sort of feelings for each other? I mean, just a few months ago, they had sex!"

Recognition flashed through Jade's eyes, causing her to smirk, "So, that's what this is about..." She laughed, straight up _laughed_. "That didn't mean anything. They said so themselves. They don't have feelings for each other and-"

"Beck cheated on you, did he not?"

"No! We were broken up!"

"For like a day! It's still the same damn thing!" He looked down at Bentley who'd been sitting down, playing with his toys. He looked up at them, "I mean, Bentley hardly knows me. To him, I'm probably just another guy. At least he knows you."

Jade's eyes softened at his tone, he seemed really... bothered by _something_, but what was it exactly? Was it because Cat had a son, who barely knew him, let alone his own mother? Or was it because she'd been more involved with his life than he had? But then again... that wouldn't make much sense since Bentley wasn't even his child to begin with. Or maybe it was just that Beck and Cat had sex and now they were off to god knows where alone.

"Robbie..." She spoke, her voice breaking a bit. Damn hormones. "He barely even knows his own mother." She looked up at him, "And that's what he's doing now. Trust me, you stay in both their lives, he'll know you just as well as he knows me."

"Okay, that's great and all, but..." He put his head in his hands, sitting down, and just sighed, shaking his head, he took his hands away and looked at her. "Nothing, just forget it okay?"

She was about to say something, but the door opened, and Cat walked in, seeming pissed off and annoyed about something. Well, that was a bit reassuring. If she was annoyed, then maybe they didn't really have as good a time together as Robbie thought.

"Cat, what's the problem?" Jade asked her, as she just looked at her, clearly _very _upset. She stared at her a moment, before blinking.

"Nothing is." She snapped, "God! Why does everyone always ask me that?"

"Because you keep freaking out for no reason, maybe that's why?" Beck suggested, shrugging his shoulders. "But uh, I think I know why. She got a phone call from her father. He seemed pissed off about something, but to make a long story short, she has to go home."

Robbie looked at his watch, "It's only four thirty in the afternoon."

"Yeah, well, my father's an asshole." Cat rolled her eyes, stomping her foot like a child, which Beck realized she'd been doing a lot of lately.

"Mommy stop!" They all heard, and she froze, looking down, she realized she'd stomped on something Bentley had been playing with. He had tears in his eyes as he held the pieces of whatever it was in his hands, going over to Beck.

Beck looked at Cat, a sad look in his eyes as he bent down to his son's level. Bentley had tears in his eyes as he handed him what once looked to be a clay model. Of what, he didn't know. He gently took it from him, as Bentley tried to piece it back together.

"Oh my god, I'm so-so sorry, Bentley. I..."

Bentley then turned on Cat, he glared at her, "You're so mean!" He yelled, and her eyes widened, as she backed away.

"I'm what?"

"You're mean!" He yelled again, hiding his face in father's shirt.

"Alright, Bentley, that's-that's enough." Beck spoke sternly. "You don't talk to your mommy that way."

"I dont care! She's not my mommy! Jadie's my mommy!"

Jade's head immediately snapped to Cat who just look like she was going to burst into tears at any second. Robbie tried to comfort her, but she just pushed him away, a hurt look on her face. She then shook her head, and without another word, pushed past everyone and out the door, behind where Beck was.

Jade looked after her, a bit confused on what she should do, Robbie feeling the same way. Beck, however, put all his attention into the sobbing four year old in front of him.

"That... that was unacceptable, Bentley." Beck said, a bit in shock over what just happened. "You don't _ever_ do that again."

"But she broke my clay!" Bentley whined, "She's so mean!"

"I dont care what it was she did, but you don't ever speak like that to her again, do you understand me?" Bentley didn't look at him, so he grabbed his arms, holding him tight, but not tight enough to actually hurt him. "She's your mommy, and she loves you, okay?"

"They why'd she leave?" He asked him, "She left me. Jadie didn't leave me."

"Jade also didn't know you the first two years of your life." Robbie snapped at him, without really meaning to. He was just so... confused he didnt really know what to think or what he was really doing. Snapping at four year old though, definitely wasn't going to give him much points though.

"That was also unacceptable." Beck said, glaring at him. "He's just a four year old, you however, aren't."

"Look, why don't you just leave?" Jade finally spoke, speaking to Robbie. "Beck, take Bentley upstairs, and... all of you, just... calm down, okay?"

"What about Cat?" Beck asked, before Robbie could.

"Just go! Do what I said!" Jade raised her voice, causing Bentley to jump. But he didnt do or say anything. "Go! Now!"

Robbie left without another word, and Beck did as she had asked, taking Bentley upstairs. Jade watched Robbie leave, before turning around and going upstairs, just as Beck was walking out of Bentley's room. He walked into his, without saying anything to her, leaving the door open-much to her surprise.

She just barged in though, and demanded an answer from Beck. "What the hell was that down there? Why did Bentley say what he did to Cat? An already very, _very_ fragile girl?"

"Like I fucking know, Jade. She's been weird all afternoon." He lay on his bed, throwing his arm over his head. "But that still doesn't excuse what Bentley said to her."

"No shit, it doesn't. He can't do that. He may not know Cat too well, but she's still his mother. He has to know who I am, and he has to know who she is. As well, as Robbie. He can't keep confusing our roles in his life for much longer."

"I'm aware, trust me." Beck snapped, sitting up. "That's one of the things Cat and I talked about today though, her spending more time with him. Although, I don't think she'll want to spend any with the way he'd just acted towards her."

"Well, get him to apologize." Jade said, shrugging and sitting beside him, her hand on top of his. "He's got to learn that what he did was not okay."

"Oh, he will, trust me." Jade started to rub his arm, before putting her hand on her stomach. "Hopefully, this one's not as belligerent as Bentley seems to be."

"With half your DNA? You better believe he will be." Beck teased, before kissing her. "Maybe the past two years you've rubbed off on him..."

"Oh, so you're saying this is my fault." Jade rolled her eyes, "Thanks a lot, Beck." He just laughed at her and kissed her again, this time deeper. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him to her, laying on her back as he hovered above her, still kissing her.

"I love you." She said, pulling away for just a moment, before kissing him again.

"I love you more," He muttered against her lips, kissing her even deeper. "Don't you forget that."

"I won't..." She whispered back, knowing it was true. But still, in the back of her mind, everything Robbie had told her, still bugged her. Maybe he was right, maybe there was some truth to what he was saying. But as she looked at Beck, she didn't believe any of it. She knew Beck was over Cat, completely. And she knew Beck was in love with her.

But what about Cat? Were her feelings for Robbie really true or was she just saying they were?

* * *

><p>Cat stumbled into her house, her eyes bloodshot and red as she walked up the stairs. She wiped her tears away, and opened the door, barely falling on it, before crying a whole new fresh set of tears.<p>

She couldn't believe Bentley had said what he did and had spoken to her that way. How could he do that? Even at such a young age, how could he have known the difference? He wasn't stupid, she knew that, but still...

She whimpered, biting her lip so hard, she was surprised it didn't bleed.

A knock soon came on her door, before being flung open. She quickly wiped her tears away, before sitting up and facing her father.

"What do you want?" She demanded, looking away. "I really don't want to talk to you right now."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. But, the party's on tonight, if you cared to remember it at all. I suggest you start getting ready for it immediately. Guests will be showing up shortly."

Wait. The party?

"What? How could you have planned this so early? Didn't you move it to Friday?"

"Change of plans, now get ready. Right now. And wipe away your tears, and get rid of them. I don't want anyone to think I abuse you."

"But you do." She whispered, not loud enough for him to hear.

She didnt move. She sensed his anger though because he yelled at her to get dressed. She still didnt move at all, but luckily he didn't say it again, just left the room, closing the door behind him, leaving it opened a bit. She walked up to the door, catching it just in time, before yelling, "GO TO HELL!" And slamming the door shut with so much force, it shook her room.

She wasn't in the fucking mood to go socialize with her dad's... whatever. They weren't even his friends. At least she was sure they weren't.

An hour later, she still hadn't made an effort to get changed. She heard footsteps come up to her bedroom though, and the door thrown open.

"Why aren't you ready? Oh my god! Get ready!" Her stepmother's voice screeched almost making Cat punch her. Almost, but not quite.

"If you're smart, you'll leave me alone." Cat snapped, turning away from her.

"No. You little brat. You get dressed and ready for this party or it'll be the last thing you do on earth, understand me?"

"No. You understand me, you ungrateful, gold digging bitch. I'm not going to go to his stupid party, because it was more important to him last week than his daughter and grandson going to the hospital. So why don't you just go down there and kiss up to some ass like you always do?" Her voice was dark and grave, almost like it wasn't her that was speaking.

Her stepmother stepped back, so shocked, she had no words.

"Leave. Now."

And with that, her stepmother closed the door behind her. A smile soon came onto Cat's face as she realized she could have fun with this. She looked down at her skinny jeans, and old vintage concert tee. She had on black stilettos, her hair down, her make-up perfect, she just decided to go downstairs the way she was.

She looked at the dress for a moment. Nah. Fuck it. That dress was so horrible it made her want to puke all over it. Hm, maybe she could get Jade to do it for her, since her morning sickness was so horrible anyway.

_Yeah, good job. You're doing the right thing_.

She had her head held up high as she walked down the stairs and into the main room where the party was. She smirked at the appalled looks she got, a waiter going past her, she grabbed one of the glasses of champagne and sipped it. Hmm... nothing like alcohol to make you feel better.

_Damn girl, you're on fire! Keep doing what you're doing! Show everyone's who's boss!_

She blinked, should she really be doing this?

"I don't give a shit." She whispered to herself. "Not anymore."

And with that, she stepped inside the party, trying her _hardest_ not to laugh as she walked through the crowd, her head held high, giving off the vibe that she really and truly didn't give a fuck.

Until a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks.

"_Hello, Courtney_. Funny running into you here, isn't? Looks like you still have that alcohol problem. I guess not much has changed, has it?"

Shit.

It was Patrice.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay. To be clear, I'm not hinting that Cat and Beck have feelings for eachother. Because they don't. It's just from Robbie's point of view. Jade doesn't believe they do either, but she's becoming a bit suspicious at Cat's behavior. And all Beck wants is that best friend he once had (though he knows deep down inside of him, she's never going to come back, but that doesn't mean he won't try). He just wants a positive person in Bentley's life. And that was who Cat was before... well, her issues showed up when they were teenagers. And yeah. That's really it.<strong>

**By the way, major, major, MAJOR drama coming up in the next chapter. It's already mostly written. As for a very, very cute moment in between Beck and Jade coming up as well, maybe not in the next chapter, but for sure the next couple. You'll like cry it's so cute. **

**Hopefully, you're still interested in this story. If not, get interested in it again... hah.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Lotza intense drama and a cute little friendship moment for Cat & Beck. I love them in this story.. I'm just saying. I do, a lot. They make me cry sometimes.**

* * *

><p>Cat turned around, a fake smile on her face, as she held the glass of champagne in her hand.<p>

"Hello, Patrice. What are you doing here? Don't you live in… I don't know, Canada? Like… far, far away from here?"

"Funny." Patrice glared at her. "I'm here with my daddy, and I'll have you know, I moved to Nevada like a year ago."

"Well, that explains why I didn't run into you while I was there." Cat smirked, lifting the champagne to her lips, she drank some of it, not taking her eyes off her… well, sworn enemy.

"As for why I'm here… my father and your father are talking about making some sort of business deal with each other. I didn't really care about it, so I didn't pay much attention, but… well, here I am." Patrice watched as Cat finished her champagne, and then quickly switched it out for another one. "Should you really be drinking that?" She asked her, and then looked her up and down, "Or dressed like that?"

Cat shrugged, "I've decided that I don't give a shit."

"Wise words, Valentine." Patrice's face stayed neutral, which bothered Cat a bit, but she said nothing. "Oh, and I have a little surprise for you." She said, looking over Cat's shoulder; she saw someone behind her. "But I won't tell you what it is… just yet."

Cat just gave her a strange look, "Okay…good for you. I really don't want to know what it is anyway. Since most of your surprises turned out really, _really _bad." And with that, she turned around bumping into someone causing her drink to go all over her and the person. "Shit! Oh my god, I'm so sorry!"

_Smooth move, idiot_.

She rolled her eyes, ignoring the tears coming to her eyes over that, and looked up at who she'd run into.

_Ohhh, well, that was an unexpected twist, now wasn't it?_

Patrice just smiled behind her, "Surprise!" She said, and Cat looked her a moment before looking at the person in front of her.

Shit.

It was Matt.

Her ex.

* * *

><p>Beck was still kissing her intensely, as she kissed him back, her hands running up and down his arm, as he started to kiss her <em>even <em>deeper. She opened her eyes, and looked at him, as he just smiled that cute smile she loved so much at her. She rolled her eyes, and sat up a bit, forcing him to get off her.

"What—" She didn't give him a chance to finish his sentence as she'd attacked him—sort of. Since she was pregnant she knew she couldn't really tackle him too hard or she'd probably land on her stomach on the floor, so instead, she pushed herself forward, and attached her lips to his again, causing him to fall on his back, so that he feet were where the pillows were on the bed, her falling on top.

Though, he laughed at that, soon effectively ruining the moment.

"Nice improvising." He said, laughing at the expression on her face, as she looked confused.

"Wait, what?" She looked at him, her chin on his chest. "Who said I was improvising? If we fell to the ground, both of us… well, technically the _three _of us would've gotten seriously injured."

"Good point." He said, poking her side as she just rolled her eyes again and kissed him, lifting her body a bit so that his hands were on her waist. She felt him suddenly start to kiss her harder, and deeper, causing a shock to go through her body… a shock she was _very_ familiar with.

But at the same time, she was still very content making out all night long. But knowing how horny Beck got—it probably wouldn't last too long.

He groaned against her mouth, lifting the ends of her shirt, and she broke the kiss for a moment, to pull it off. She leaned down to kiss him again, and he unhooked her strapless bra, throwing it off somewhere in the room. He put both his hands on them, feeling her press them into his hands, moaning in his mouth when he'd squeezed them. Then one of his hands traveled down to her stomach, to her sweats, where he applied pressure in her most sensitive spot.

Jade pulled away from him, and whispered his name in his ear, causing his body to move, and a "friend" to pop up. He kept doing what he was doing though so he could hear her say his name again.

Biting her lower lip, she moaned as his hand moved to the waistband again, and went in lower, until he was fully rubbing her.

She leaned forward and kissed him, her hand trailing down to the waistband of his jeans, but he shook his head. He didn't want anything, he just wanted _her_ to feel something.

She smiled against his lips and kissed him deeper, as he pulled his hand out from her sweats, and just rest them on her waist, as she grinded her body against him.

"I love you, Beck." She whispered, pulling away from him to look him in the eyes for a moment. "I love you so much."

He smiled, "I love you too, babe. Probably a little more though."

"I doubt it, I think we love each other the same." She said, laughing when he realized what she was saying as she and Bentley always got into that argument.

"I'm not a four year old." He said, narrowing his eyes as she just looked surprised at what he'd said. He laughed and pulled him to her again, kissing her he flipped them so that she was on the bottom and he could stare at her. "You're so beautiful." He said, running his hands over her small bump. "Even though you're pregnant. You're always going to be beautiful."

"Thanks… that makes me feel so much better." This time there was no sarcasm in her words, she really and truly meant it.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and then pulled him to her kissing him slowly and gently. He responded back, his eyes closed as they just lay there together, kissing and kissing. Happy and content with eachother and just enjoying the moment.

That was until his phone went off, causing him to jump off her so fast, he fell on the floor. Jade let out an annoyed groan and sat up, looking at him.

"What was that about?" She asked him and he just looked up at her.

"My phone scared the shit out of me." He then got up rubbing the back of his head, and pulled his phone from the beside table. "Wow, that's strange, it's a text from an unknown number."

"Does whoever that is know you're a complete klutz?"

He glared at her, "I highly doubt that." He opened the message, and his eyes widened as he quickly sat up, causing Jade to look concerned.

"Beck?"

He looked more pissed off than anything else, concern and worry in his eyes, a pissed off look on his face.

Without saying anything, he picked up something random, and threw it against the wall, "Dammit!" He shouted, sitting abruptly down on the bed, he put his hands in his hand, and pulled on the end of his hair, trying his hardest to calm the hell down.

"Beck? What's wrong? What did the message say?"

He looked at her, and then back at the phone in his hand, he pressed the screen again, and it lit up. He showed her the message, her eyes widening at what she saw, almost not believing it. She looked in between him and the phone, now understanding why he'd reacted the way he did.

_Hey, Beck. It's Patrice… I jacked Cat's phone and got your number. Anyway, Cat's like really drunk, I think you should come to her house and… I don't know calm her down or whatever. But up to you. Well, anyway, toodles! Xoxo._

* * *

><p>Cat stumbled into the living room, her fourth cup of champagne in her hands, as she held onto the doorway, feeling a little sick, but not sick enough to actually puke.<p>

_You're doing so great! I'm so proud of you! _

Sometimes she really wished it would just _shut the fuck up_.

She had left Matt and Patrice, and had literally ran off. It had been about thirty minutes since she'd seen them last, but now she was back in the same room as them.

Patrice still had that annoying as hell smirk on her face as she walked up to her, Matt behind her.

"What—what do you want?" Cat demanded, "You've ruined my life enough in the past, don't you think?"

"Sure, sure." Patrice waved her off, just as Cat's grandmother (the one who hated her) walked up to her.

"My, my, my!" Cat just angrily glared at her. "Where have you been all night?"

"Uh, around. What's it to you?" She demanded, taking a sip of her champagne. "I never thought you really cared."

"I could care less, you're right." Those words, for some reason hurt her, even though she really should've been used to them by now. "But really, I'm just curious as to why you're drinking when you're well, underage."

Her voice was so condescending, it made Cat even more pissed off.

"You better watch what you say." Cat said, speaking low and raspy, her normal warning voice. "Or shit will happen."

"What worse could happen? You already know I don't approve of you at all."

"I'm well aware since your dumbass thinks I'm a murderer, but as it turns out, I'm not."

"Oh?" Her grandmother just gave her the meanest look she'd ever seen—which was saying a lot since she'd seen some pretty mean ones before. "How so?"

"I found a box my dear old father had in the attic about three years ago. Turns out she wanted to kill herself, because… well, she had problems. Most of them similar to mine."

"Oh? You have problems? Do tell."

She smirked as she lowered her glass of champagne. "Here's the thing, I don't have to tell you _shit_." And with that, she finished drinking her drink and looked at it. "Whoops, looks like I need another! Excuse me, won't you?" And with that, she pushed past her, leaving Patrice, her grandmother, and Matt behind.

Well, that was until Patrice followed her. God, she was so annoying. Couldn't she take a fucking hint.

"Excellent display of respecting your elders, there Valentine. That's such a good example to set for your son, isn't it?"

"Why don't you just shut the fuck up?" Cat snapped, turning and facing her. "You've made my life miserable my whole life. I've had enough."

"Oh yeah? So what are you going to do? Your dumbass is getting drunk." She smiled a triumphant one, "And I just texted your boyfriend to let him know."

Her eyes widened, "You _what_?" She yelled, causing everyone to stop what they were doing, and look at her. But she paid no mind to them. "You texted Robbie?"

She made a face, "Who the hell is Robbie?"

"He's my boyfriend!" Cat slammed the glass of champagne down on the table ignoring as it splashed everywhere and put her hands in her hair, pulling it. "Oh my god, shit, shit, shit. I can't believe you did that!"

"Wait, you're dating someone named Robbie?" Matt asked, coming up to her, "I thought… I thought you were dating a Bart… or Bobby? That's who you said you were going to see when you left a few months ago. Your like first love or whatever."

Cat narrowed her eyes, her freak out stopping, "His name is _Beck_. And no, we're not dating anymore. He's engaged."

There were a few words said in the crowd that had gathered around her, but she paid no mind to them, learning in treatment that it was just best to ignore things said to or about her that were hurtful.

"Well, that's awkward." Patrice smirked, "I texted _Beck_, not Robbie."

"That's even worse! Oh my god! Now he's never going to let me see Bentley… ever! What the fuck! Are you just _trying_ to ruin my life? Haven't I suffered enough abuse from you?" She then turned to her "family" that was in front of her, "And all of you as well? Don't I get enough shit from you guys?"

"Not really." Patrice said, playing with her fingers. "I just love to see you freak out and go crazy."

Cat put her hands in her hair again. She didn't know what to do. Her eyes then caught the glass of champagne next to her, and she picked it up.

"You better not do what I think you're going to do," Her father pushed to the front of the crowd. "Because if you do… it's all over."

Cat's eyes suddenly narrowed, and she smirked, still holding the glass of champagne, she walked up to him. "Oh, do tell, daddy. What will be over? You already kicked me out of here—if I do recall, for two years. What more could you do to damage me than what you already have?" Her eyes caught her stepmother's, "Oh and what about the daughter you never speak to… you know the one who could probably use a mother right now more than anything? At least then she'd have something, I never did."

She then turned to her mother's parents, who were standing beside him, her grandmother about to say something, but she stopped her, holding her hand up.

"Do you all want to know why… I'm the way I am?" She didn't want for anyone to say anything and just continued. "Unlike, Patrice here, I'm not an attention whore. Contrary to what you _all _believe, I'm not it at all. In fact…" She smirked as her dad's eyes widened. "I'm a recovery bipolar, schizophrenic drug and alcohol addict."

Everyone's eyes widened at that, including her grandmother and grandfather's. "My best friend, you know, Patrice… _Beck_, the one boy you couldn't have no matter how damn hard you tried or how desperate you were, sent me away to get treatment for my problems." She then laughed humorlessly and shook her head, looking down, "oh and here's the best part…" She said, looking back up. "I have a four year old son. How _fucking insane_ is that?" She said, her voice louder as she threw her hands in the air, the drink falling in her hair a bit, before she put them back down again. "Yeah, not so perfect am I? But… I think you all already knew that."

Her violet eyes darkened as she walked past her father, "Sorry to ruin your party, but you ruined my life. You deserved this." And with that, she pushed past him, laughing as she did and walked outside. She sat down on the front steps continued to drink her champagne, feeling a bit lightheaded and even sicker than she already was.

Patrice and Matt came out soon afterwards; she jumped up and _almost_ manically laughed as she spread her arms apart. "See? Matt. Now you and everyone in there knows the damn truth! I'm crazy! Isn't that just fantastic? And now, because of Patrice, I'm never going to ever see my son ever again. Not like it matters though, he hates me. I'm not really his mother, according to him."

"Is that why you're drinking and throwing everything away?" Matt yelled at her, "All that treatment you went through and you're just throwing it away?"

"Yeah." Cat looked directly at him. "Not like it matters, my son _fucking_ hates me."

"I don't think that's true." They heard another voice enter the conversation, both Patrice and Matt looked up as Cat turned around, only to see Beck and Jade standing there, a disapproving look on both their faces. It wasn't too long before Robbie, Tori and Andre joined them, all three of them looking concerned and pissed off.

What probably shocked Cat the most was that Bentley _wasn't _with them. Or at least she thought he wasn't.

_Are you going to let them talk you out of what you think? It's probably true. Your son hates you, I think it's time you accept it. _

"SHUT UP!" Cat nearly screamed, "Just shut up!" She grabbed her head, the unfinished drink falling the ground and shattering into a million pieces. Robbie looked down at it, and then back at her, before looking at Beck.

Beck was the _only _other person who'd seen this before. He knew what was going on. He knew just how to handle her and the situation. But he wasn't about to say anything quite yet.

"Why are you doing this?" Tori asked her, "Why are getting drunk?"

Cat suddenly stopped holding her head, and turned to Patrice, "See what you did? You made all my friends upset." She walked up to her and got in her face. "Does that make you happy?" She yelled at her, "Does it make you happy that everyone _hates_ me now?"

Beck quickly walked up to her and pulled her away from Patrice who looked like she was about to cry. He held her, as she tried to fight against him.

"Let me go Beck! Just let me go! You didn't have a problem with it before!" She squirmed and pushed against him, but he wasn't loosening the tight hold he had on her. "Let me fucking go!"

"No!" He yelled at her, "You need to calm down!"

She stopped moving against him for a minute, and smirked, he looked at her, and noticed she… she wasn't like herself at all. It was like a whole other person had taken over her body and she had just left. "You know _exactly_ what will calm me down."

He then abruptly let her go. "Tell your boyfriend to do it then."

Her eyes widened, but then soon narrowed as she looked at Robbie, motioning for him to come towards her. He did, somewhat warily and stood in front of her.

"What's she talking about?" Jade asked Tori as Robbie walked to Cat.

"I don't know. But… it's like she's not even there, like someone took over her body or something."

Jade watched Beck, who was breathing heavily as he ran his fingers through his hair, and looked away from Cat and Robbie.

Cat just smirked and looking at everyone, pulled Robbie to her and kissed him hard and deep on the mouth, pulling him to her, she put his hands on her waist and kissed him more intensely, until she pulled away, and stepped away from him.

"What? Too much for you?" Cat asked, as Robbie just looked surprised, he looked at Beck.

"You have to kiss her." He said, "For some reason whenever she had an episode like this, I'd kiss her and she'd relax. So I suggest you kiss her like you mean it."

"Does alcohol make you horny as shit or what? What's going on?" Andre asked Cat as she just shrugged.

"She's drunk, but not only that… she's having a damn episode!" Beck cried, pushing past them and to Cat. "I thought you changed, I thought you were keeping up with your medication and doing well, what the fuck changed?"

"I don't know. Maybe when I almost _killed_ my son, and it was all because of the medication! Maybe that's what made me stop taking them!"

_You should go… like upstairs to your room. And kill yourself, because after that, I doubt any of them will want to talk to you ever again._

So, she _did _just that. Before any of them could say anything to her, she turned around and ran up the stairs to her room, slamming the door shut, she locked it and leaned against it. Breathing heavily, she searched for the pills she was looking for, finding them along with her bag of coke and abruptly opened the door. She slammed the door to her bathroom shut—but since her father caught her cutting herself not too long ago, he did the first parental thing for her and took out the lock so she couldn't lock it ever again.

She then realized in her teary state that she couldn't pop open the lid. She tried and tried and tried but nothing was working. The door then opened and Beck, Robbie, Jade, and Tori walked in. Jade immediately ran over to her, and tried to grab the pills from her, but she was moving around so fast it was impossible.

Jade's eyes found the bag of coke, and her eyes widened. "What the hell is this?" She demanded, as Cat fought to get it, but Jade already took it, handing it to Tori.

"Tori, call 911!" Beck yelled at her and she nodded as he Jade finally grabbed the bottle, and tried to pull it away from her. Cat was still holding onto it and fighting against her, as Robbie wrapped his arms around her waist—Beck doing the same with Jade—and pulled them apart. Cat's arms still moved around wildly as she kicked and screamed against him. Jade then watched, holding the bottle of pills against her chest, Beck's arms still around her, as Cat started to calm down, crying as Robbie held her, running his fingers through her hair. She was clutching his shirt and sobbing hard, as he sat on the ground, her body curled up in his lap.

He looked up at Beck and Jade who just shook their heads and looked at each other. He rubbed her arms up and down, "You okay?"

Jade was a bit shaken up, but otherwise, she was fine, "Yeah, how about you?"

"I'm fine. I've been—I've…" He trailed off, biting his lip as tears came to his eyes, seeing his best friend and the mother of his child so broken like she was.

"It's okay to cry." Jade whispered, tears coming to her own eyes. "You don't have to hold it in, it's not good for you."

Beck shook his head, and hid his head in her neck, crying softly. Jade cried too as he rubbed his back, trying to comfort him, the best she could.

Tori, Andre, and Matt watched from the sidelines tears in their eyes as well. They'd seen Cat have an episode before, but this—this was nothing compared to what they've seen before. In fact, Beck was the only one who'd witnessed one a bit worse then the one she'd just had. It hurt him to see what she was doing to herself—to her life.

Robbie kept rubbing Cat as she held onto him tighter. "I want Beck." She whimpered, looking up at him, "Please?"

Robbie knew she just wanted him because he was there for every other episode she'd had, but he wasn't sure if Beck was in the right state for it.

"Robbie, please?" She begged him, "Give me Beck." She started to cry as Robbie shook his head. "Please….please…I don't want him to hate me."

"He doesn't hate you."

"Yes…he does." And that caused her to cry even harder than she already was, almost to the point where she couldn't breathe. Beck looked up from Jade's neck, tear stains on his cheeks, as he looked at Cat and Robbie. Robbie had tears in his eyes—having been able to stay strong as long as he did—and mouthed that she wanted him.

He nodded, and slowly detached himself from Jade, while Robbie moved to the side a little. Cat curled up against the wall, hitting her hand against it, as she stared at it.

"Courtney…" Beck whispered, running his fingers through her hair. "It's okay… please come back. Tell me you love me and that I'm your best friend in the whole world. Because I love you and you're my best friend in the whole world." He paused, "I don't hate you. I promise."

She shook her head.

"Please?"

_Don't do it. _

He sat down, tears still streaming down his face, as he put her on his lap—gently—and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight against him. "Please Cat? Do it for me. Do it for… yourself." He paused, whispering the last part in her ear, so only she could hear it. "Do it for Bentley."

_Don't do it. You'll be making a big mistake_.

Everyone watched as she just stared at the wall, emotionless. Her hand still against it, as Beck held her like she was a child. Tori was breathing heavily, watching to see what she'd do, while Andre just stared straight ahead. Matt was watching in disbelief as he didn't know she was as sick as she was, and Jade had put the pill bottle on the counter, watching them as well, a bit incredulous as Cat had seemed to calm down. Robbie watched from right next to them to see what she'd do.

And Beck… he was just waiting. Like he always did. Usually talking to her calmed her down enough that she'd be a bit more relaxed. Her therapist in Canada had suggested he'd do it if she ever had another episode again.

_Finally_, she turned to Beck, biting her bottom lip, she threw her arms around him and cried as he held her. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She whimpered against his neck.

"It's okay." He whispered, rocking her back and forth, "I got you…" He looked up at the EMTs who'd shown up just then. "I got you. I'm not going anywhere." He whispered into her hair, kissing it softly as she just held him tighter, scared to let him go.

And Robbie watched, so many emotions going through him as he realized that Cat wasn't in love with Beck. No… she just _needed_ him, since he'd been there her whole life, he knew her best. And as it turned out, he had nothing to be jealous about. Their friendship was strong enough to take on anything; that he knew. And that he could more than respect.

And as Cat calmed down, and the EMTs helped her into the gurney, he realized how in love _he _was with her. And how from now on, he'd make sure she knew it.

Beck slowly got up and walked over to Jade who immediately held him against her. She cried, mostly because she'd been able to more or less keep it inside, but now she had to let it out, and Beck was the one who she wanted to be with when she did.

"I love you, I love you." She whispered over and over as Beck held her. She kept crying though, as Beck just rubbed her back trying to calm her down. She'd never seen Cat like that, and to see her… so upset, made her burst. It was almost like it wasn't Cat that had had the episode, it was Jade.

"I love you too." Beck whispered, and kissed her head. "I love you so much."

Tori and Andre meanwhile, were just standing there, unsure of what to do, as Robbie followed the EMTs and Jade and Beck were holding each other.

Tori played with the bag of coke in her hands, unable to believe, she actually had it this whole time.

"You okay?" Andre asked her, and she shrugged, she bit her lip, looking like she was about to cry. "Come here," He said and she nodded going over to him, she cried against his chest.

It was all so hard for them to see something they weren't used to. It was really scary and really… just emotional.

And they all hoped with everything in them—that Cat would be okay.

* * *

><p>She opened her eyes, at first everything was blurry, but then it came into focus. She groaned, and looked over to her right where she saw Robbie was sitting in the chair, holding her hand, fast asleep. She moved her hand from his, and he immediately woke up.<p>

"You're awake." He smiled at her, "How are you feeling?"

"Sleepy." She looked around, "How long was I out for?"

"Yeah, the sedative, it's wearing off. And about a day." He said, and grabbed her hand again, going over to stand next to her. "Are you okay?"

She swallowed, her throat feeling scratchy and on fire, her voice coming out raspier than normal. "What happened?"

"You… uhm, had an episode, and… tried to kill yourself."

"Why does my throat hurt so badly?" She asked him, sitting up her head felt lightheaded. "What's going on?"

"It's probably from all the crying you did and when they pumped your stomach." He sighed, "It was really scary, Cat. It was almost like it wasn't _you_ that was there, it was like there was someone…else."

She looked up at him, "Really?"

He nodded, "But then Beck talked you down from it."

Her eyes widened, "Beck… Bentley… where are they? Do they hate me?"

He shook his head, "Not even close."

She was about to say something when the door opened and her doctor came in, Beck behind her, holding a cup of coffee in his hands.

"Alright…Courtney Valentine," She read on the clipboard.

"Just Cat is fine." She said, and her doctor nodded, smiling.

"Cat it is. How are you feeling?"

"Sleepy, tired, confused. My throat hurts like… a lot."

"Well, we'll get you something for that, but how do you feel…" She motioned to her head, "Up here?"

Cat then did something really adorable that even made Beck and Robbie laugh a bit, despite how serious the situation was. She looked up at her head, and then at the ceiling, before looking back down again, confused. "Fine."

"No voices?"

She shook her head, doing it again, "Nope."

"Well, good. It means the medication we prescribed for you is working."

"Wait, medication? What medication? I thought the one I had before was doing just fine."

"Well, since we heard you hadn't been taking them… we made the dosage just a bit higher. You're completely under that right now and it seems to be working just fine."

She handed her a prescription, which she handed to Robbie. "You are to take that three times a day. No excuses."

Cat nodded, "Okay."

"And when you feel like an episode is coming… come here immediately, don't let it happen, understand?"

Cat nodded again.

"Very good, but uhm… now there's something a bit more serious that we have to talk about."

Cat swallowed hard, ignoring the pain in her throat. "Okay, what is it?"

"Well, we've noticed that you haven't gotten really much better since you went away for treatment. And of course, returning can cause all kinds of stress and worry." She paused as Cat looked at Beck and Robbie.

"So what does this mean?" A look of realization soon passed over her, she looked at Beck, who more or less stared intently at her, and Robbie just squeezed her hand. She shook her head, tears immediately coming to her eyes. "No… no… you cant send me away again! Please… please don't send me away!" She begged with her eyes, and Robbie bit his lip to keep from crying.

"Cat—" Beck began, stepping forward, "You need the help."

"No! No!" Cat shouted, "I can't leave! I have to finish high school… I have to—I have to be in Bentley's life… I have a son!" She turned to her doctor, "You can't take me away from him… please, don't take me away from him."

She put her head in her hands and broke down, as Robbie tried to comfort her, but she pulled away from him.

"Sweetie, you had an episode, a very bad one if I'm hearing correctly and you drank alcohol. You had an addiction you were trying to get over, yet something provoked you to drink…and then you tried to commit suicide. You need the help."

"I don't want to be sent away…" Cat whimpered, "isn't there anything else I can do? Like… go to counseling everyday, or…group counseling…anything? Please..." She whispered, "I'm begging you not to send me away."

"Also…" Beck began, "We know about the coke, if you remember you had it in her hands in the bathroom. Why did you have coke?"

"An old…friend gave it to me, when we got into our huge fight," She whispered, "But I wasn't going do anything with it, I swear."

"Then why did you have it with you in the bathroom?" Robbie asked her, gently as he didn't want to provoke any reaction from her. "You knew you couldn't have it, yet you did."

"I don't know. I just… I was feeling so… lousy and the voices—they told me to kill myself, so I figured the pills with the coke would do it just fine. And it was a mistake, okay? A huge, huge mistake."

"And that's why you have to go away again." Beck said, taking her hands in his, "To make sure you're okay. We're doing this to help you."

"But… I only have a few more months left of high school… can I please, please just do it here? Please? I don't want to leave Bentley… Beck, think if you were in my position, what would you do?" The way Cat spoke to him, with tears in her eyes… just made his heart break.

"I'd do what was best for me…" He blinked as he soon realized something. "But I think that if she wants to stay here… she should." She looked surprised as he looked at the doctor. "Look, Doc. I know she needs the help, but she's right. She's got a son here, she can't leave him again."

Robbie nodded, holding her hand tight. "I agree."

The doctor smiled, "Alright, well, I'll see what I can do. For now, Cat, you have to stay overnight just to be sure everything's okay before we send you home tomorrow okay? And take it easy." With one last smile, she was out of the door.

And all Cat did was let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in.

"Thanks, Beck." She whispered, and Beck gave her a soft smile.

"You're welcome."

"Hello." A woman smiled warmly at her as she took a seat in the chair. It was later that day, and her doctor had told she needed to speak to the therapist in the hospital. "I'm Betty and you must be Courtney."

"Or you can just call me, Cat." She whispered in a quiet voice, playing with her fingers and looking away.

"Well, alright, Cat. Tell me, why are you here?"

She said nothing, but soon looked at her, "I uhm had an episode yesterday. And uhm.. I tried to kill myself." She spoke after a few minutes.

"And do you know why all this happened?" She nodded.

"I wasn't taking my medication."

"And what else?"

"My son.. he uhm... said some things."

Betty smiled at her, "Okay, so let's go back for a minute, okay?" She nodded, "You said you have a son?" She nodded again. "Tell me a bit about him."

"Uhm, okay." A small smile spread across her face. "Well, okay. He's four years old, his name is Bentley. And he's... really cute and fun to hang out with. He loves to watch The Lion King, like me and color outside the lines and animals in different colors like me..." She then trailed off, unsure of what else to say, as she really didn't have much.

"Anything else?"

Cat shook her head, her mouth slightly open in shock. "I...I honestly don't know him that well. I left when he was just two years old. Or almost two."

"And why's that?" Betty asked as she wrote some things down.

"Because I left to get help for my problems, to treatment."

"So he doesn't know you very well either, does he?" She shook her head, her tight ponytail swinging back and forth behind her. The nurses felt that if she had her hair down, she'd be more likely to pull on it, so they put it back in what felt like the tightest ponytail ever.

"I want to get to know him, I want to be his mother, because that's who I am. But it's so difficult." Her eyes watered as she spoke. "All my problems... it's just too much. And yesterday I was pushed over the edge, and at my dad's party I stupidly decided to have some alcohol to help me cope with it."

"Okay, now let me ask you this." Betty said, "if you had all these problems, with what I've what read here, issues with drugs, i.e. coke, meth, etc, and alcohol why on earth would your father have alcohol? Especially with a recovering addict attending?"

Cat shrugged, "He never really cared about me. He had me young, or really my mother did. But she died soon after my birth and he blames me for it. He says it's all my fault when it's really not. She committed suicide, I know for a fact that she did. But my whole life, I was the one to blame."

"You don't have to explain anything to me, sweetie. I know you're not to blame, trust me. I'm here to help you, not go against you. I'm your advocate."

Cat nodded, "Thank you." She whispered.

"Okay, now tell me a little bit about you, what are your interests, your goals, your friends like, do you have a boyfriend, what's he like, things like that."

"Uhm, well, I'm almost 17 years old. My birthday's in a couple of weeks actually. I'm a singer, actor, and dancer. I also write music in my spare time and play the piano, guitar, and drums. Uhm... I go to Hollywood Arts, a performing arts high school, and I eventually want to move to New York City and go to NYU or Julliard. I really love photography and am I always taking pictures of things. Uhm, my best friend ever, in the world, his name is Beck. We've known each other our whole lives... we grew up together in Canada, and for about four years, dated until I went to treatment. He's Bentley's father, by the way. And now he's engaged to an amazing woman, her name is Jade. She's my stepsister and my best friend as well, I love her to death. Tori and Andre are also two of my close, best friends. Andre is a music prodigy, I swear, he can play any instrument and write any song. Tori is a really good singer and so nice and so genuine. And there's Robbie." A smile came on her face, "He's my boyfriend and I love him to death. He's been there for me since I got back and... I don't know. I feel like with all the hell I've put him through, I don't deserve him, but he loves me. He truly and really does... and I couldn't ask for a better boyfriend then him. I also have more close friends back home who are amazing as well. But we unfortunately don't talk that much anymore."

She nodded, writing all of what she'd said down as fast as she could. "Very good, very good." She smiled, "And have you told any of them anything about what happened while you were away?" She shook her head. "Well, maybe you should. Start off with one of them and then gradually go on from there."

"I'm afraid to." Cat whispered, "What if they judge me."

"They won't. After how they helped you last night, I'd say they're pretty much going to be there for you no matter what. No judgement included." She paused staring at the distraught girl in front of her. "Tell you what, why don't start with..." She looked down on her clipboard of paper. "Start with Beck, since he's your best friend and from what I can tell, knows you the best. Tell him what happened."

She slowly nodded her head, but still looked a bit wary.

"It's best you do this, Cat. Get it out, otherwise it's going to stay in and hurt you in the long run. Tell Beck everything and I mean _everything_, and then when you're ready... tell everyone else. Because sooner or later, they're going to ask, and they're going to want to know. So I think that when they do, you should just let it all out."

Cat nodded, shaking a bit, but forcing herself to calm down and relax. "Okay," She whispered. "I'll do it."

* * *

><p>A day later, Cat was released from the hospital and was just laying in her bed, surprisingly Beck was the one who was beside her.<p>

She laid on her side and faced him, her head up with one hand, while the other was playing with her necklace.

"Thanks for staying here with me. It means so much to me."

He looked down and nodded, he stopped her fingers from playing with her hands, and looked at her, "I was so scared you were going to do something," He whispered, "I mean… I don't know how… how I could've dealt with things if you had…" He trailed off, not wanting to say the word.

"I know." She felt tears come to her eyes, "I'm so sorry that happened… I didn't mean to… to scare anyone. Especially you, Tori, Andre, Jade, and Robbie. I was just… I honestly wasn't sure what was going on and it scared me… that I was reacting to things the way I was."

"What happened?" Beck decided it was just best to come out with it and ask her.

"What Bentley said to me… got to me, and then… I guess the party and Patrice being back… it was all—"

"A trigger." Beck finished. Cat looked up surprised that he knew the word. "Everything was a trigger for you in your mind because of all the stress."

"Yeah and I wasn't uhm, taking my medication so that probably had a little—or a lot," She said when he gave her a look, "to do with it."

"And tell me again, why weren't you taking it?"

"Because I was tired of feeling like I had to rely on them. I almost killed Bentley because of the meds. It was like they were working against me not for me, at least that what it felt like in my mind. You don't know what it's like, Beck. To go through your whole life, not knowing who you are. And then finding out a few years later, that you're mentally sick." A tear slipped down her cheek, and Beck wiped it away. "And the only way to deal with it is to take medication and intensive counseling. I didn't want to be like that… I don't want to have to take medication to feel like I needed to function. I wanted to see what it could be like without them. To see if I could work around my problems and just be… me."

"But obviously found out, you couldn't right? That… your medication is what helped you and made it so you didn't completely lose yourself."

She nodded, closing her eyes as he rested his hand against her cheek, rubbing it gently and laying on his side to face her.

"My life… it's just a messed up, crazy ride and at that time, I just couldn't deal with it anymore, you know?"

Beck nodded, "I hear you, but I have another question." She looked at him, "Can you tell me exactly what happened while you were away… everything? Because I'm still kind of not sure and fuzzy about it all."

She bit her lip, and tried to relax her fast beating heart.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

He was right, she didn't. But then again, Betty was right as well. She had to tell them sooner or later.

"No, it's okay. I'm ready." She spoke, confidently or as confidently as she could anyway.

She kept her eyes closed and took a deep breath, opening them to reveal the violet eyes he'd grown up knowing his whole life. Those eyes that made him _sure_ his best friend was still in there somewhere.

And as she told him the story, he began to realize he was slowly getting her back.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, so to clarify because I'm too lazy to write it in. Beck and Jade called Andre, Robbie and Tori and told them what was going on, so that's why they were there when Beck confronted Cat. And Matt will be explained in the next chapter because everyone is going to see what Cat's life was like while she was away. Yayyy! <strong>

**And Beck and Jade cuteness coming as well, probably the chapter after that. I have something majorly adorable planned for them. Like, you'll smile and/or cry it's so cute. **


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